Statera Member Spotlight: Caitlin Stegemoller

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StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Caitlin Stegemoller.

StateraArts: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
Caitlin Stegemoller: I am a voice coach. I teach various aspects of voice performance: voice, speech, voice into text, and dialects. My journey to this occupation comes from a long-time engagement in other areas of the arts. Performing is an important part of my identity; I trained in Musical Theatre and worked as an actor from a young age. Additionally, I spent 5 years as a teaching artist in Los Angeles, working with young people on theatre-making and Shakespeare.

SA: What inspires your work most?
CS: My inspiration comes from an interest in the human voice, and its capability to reflect the dynamic individualism that every person possesses. The voice is inextricable from our identity representation, something that I find relevant in a world that is beginning to deconstruct social paradigms and question equitable representation. Through the embodied practice of voice work, my aim is to make space for voices that have historically been subject to restraint; and facilitate a journey that encourages curiosity, authenticity, and discovery.

SA: What organizations are you affiliated with?
CS: Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA), Actors Equity Association (AEA), and of course, STATERA.

Why did you become a Statera member?
CS: I became a member of STATERA because there is power in community. And a community dedicated to supporting and advancing the Arts towards an equitable future, a future that reflects the diversity of our world, is a wonderful community to belong to. 

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
CS: I am lucky to follow in the footsteps of many incredible voice practitioners, and most all of them are women. Kristin Linklater, Cicely Berry, Barbara Houseman, Frankie Armstrong…. and those are just the published books that I am currently looking at as I sit at my desk! The list certainly goes on. I have the gift of getting to collaborate with a wide artistic community: with a creative team if I am supporting voice work on a production, one-on-one with actors, and cohorts of drama school students as they go through training. I am constantly learning from all of them. 

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
CS: Right now, I am in the process of writing my MFA dissertation. I’m looking at the coaching practices of theatrical institutions that have committed themselves to casting “post-gender” Shakespeare, and interrogating how they work to avoid gendered stereotypes. It came out of the genuine curiosity: is there a protocol for coaching? What strategies are employed by leading theatre companies? How would a student or actor approach a piece of text originally intended for a gender that they don’t necessarily identify with? Is there a way of coaching classical text that is more reflective of our flexibility and fluidity?

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the Statera mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
CS: I am still in the early part of my career, and I have been supported, inspired, and buoyed by many wonderful artists and teachers. The voice community is a particularly supportive one, and appropriately, there is a historical legacy in the art of voice teaching. The day I decided I wanted to be a voice teacher, I called Fran Bennett, who I had worked with briefly in a workshop, and asked her if she would mentor me. I remember her sonorous voice on the other end of the line replying, “Yes. Welcome to the journey of your life, darling”. Fran is a legendary actor, artist, and teacher. She is also incredibly generous, FUNNY, and delivers tough love like no one else. There is so much of her in the way I teach. I recognize how lucky I am to have her support and friendship. 

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About CAITLIN

Caitlin Stegemoller is a performer and voice teacher from Los Angeles, California. She teaches various aspects of voice performance: voice, speech, voice into text, and dialects. Caitlin holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of Arizona, and an MFA in Voice Studies at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2020). Voice teaching and coaching: The Young Vic, CleanBreak, Trinity Laban, The Bridge House Theatre, ALRA, ArtsEd, (London), Antaeus Theatre, Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles). Selected performing credits: Carla in Nine (Arizona Repertory Theatre), Helena in A Midsummer Nights Dream (Theatricum Botanicum). Caitlin has also collaborated with Ghost Road and Theatr ZAR in Los Angeles, and worked in commercials.

Statera Member Spotlight: Andrea Moon

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StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Moon.

StateraArts: What organizations are you affiliated with?
Andrea Moon: I am an Associate Professor and head of Theatre Studies at the University of Northern Colorado, teach at Limelight Fitness in Fort Collins and perform and teach workshops under amoonperformance.

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
AM: Teacher, aerial artist, playwright, poet and performer.

SA: Tell us about one of your favorite projects. 
AM: This is a difficult question. Often the project I'm currently working on is my favorite project.  I just directed a production of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice for the University of Northern Colorado and it was a wonderful process and the most cohesive cast I've ever worked with. Two projects that I think best marry all sides of my artistic presence in the world are my aerial prose triptych: "What flying really feels like," "If I believed in Heaven," and "Notes on Being a BadAss", and my work as choreographer and movement director for the world premiere of When She Had Wings by Suzan Zeder at Imagination Stage in Maryland. Both of these projects involved equal reliance on movement and text in their storytelling and both used aerial apparatus as a metaphor to communicate the parts of being human that are painfully messy and impossibly transcendent. 

SA: What inspires your work most?
AM: I honestly don't know how to answer this question. I am inspired every day by my students. I am inspired by gratitude and by the infinite possibilities of human expression. 

Why did you become a Statera member?
AM: The Statera conference I attended in Milwaukee was like no other conference I had attended before. There was such deep and abiding love tied to intellectual inquiry and a focus on putting both into action in the world. I also believe in the idea of balance. Historically there's been such pressure on women and gender non-conforming artists to do more, be more, achieve more just to be considered valid. I suppose this is because we often don't fit neatly into the boxes that clearly define roles in the business of theatre. I resonate with the mission of Statera and I wanted to be a part of that. 

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
AM: Their willingness to play, their dedication to growth, their generosity and their unwavering acceptance, championing even, of my quirk.

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
AM: I've been very lucky with the women in my life, both personal and professional. I feel supported and championed every day by my female colleagues. I have a community of women who support me by consistently coming to watch my work and sending people to my silks classes. I have a group of very close friends who support me emotionally, listen to my venting, and share their networks and opportunities with me. Instead of one burst of brightness, I see the support of the women in my life as a tapestry of a thousand shining action-threads woven over many years.

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
AM: The majority of my creative energy and time these days is spent on my students. I am in the process of a major rewrite of a play called The Transmigration of a High Wire Act and am hoping to workshop it this year. I have also begun the research phase for a book on teaching movement in the 21st century, which I was going to call "Radical Generosity" but I just discovered that someone already used that title. If any of you have great title ideas….

SA: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work.
AM: There are so many. Kristy Bowen in poetry. Ana Prada, Laura Stokes and Jenn Bruyer in aerial. Kirsten Greenidge in playwriting. Those are a few that sprang immediately to mind.

SA: What does gender parity in the arts look like to you?
AM: On the surface, it looks like more women, trans and non-binary artists in the position of saying "yes," of saying "this," of deciding which are the stories that need to be told and who gets to tell them. Honestly, I think on a deeper level it looks like a dismantling of the boxes that often serve to stifle innovation. It looks like a complete redefinition of how success is measured. 

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
AM: I've been lucky in the mentor department as well. Robyn Hunt of Pacific Performance Project shaped me into the teacher I am today. She has the gift of making her students feel seen, of treating them like artists and complete human beings. I wrote my dissertation on her and her husband's work and her generosity with me during that process was unparalleled. Suzan Zeder taught me that you can say "yes" and navigate the monolithic "no" of a giant institution. Her willingness to dismantle boxes and see the value of things outside of the normal structure made my early work possible. When she was spearheading a project she knew was in my proverbial wheelhouse she found a way to bring me in. She also has given me amazing advice over the years and shared her experiences with me in a way that gave me permission. I was going to try to delineate specifically what her mentorship has given me permission for but it's so big. Really it's given me permission to exist as a teacher and an artist without having to prove that I am either and/or both.

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About ANDREA

Andrea Moon is the head of Theatre Studies and an Associate Professor teaching dramatic literature and movement for the actor at the University of Northern Colorado. Her written work has been published by Dramatic Publishing, Applause Books, New York Theatrical Experience, Austin Scriptworks, eclectica online literary journal and Salvage Vanguard Press. Her theatrical work has been produced at small theatres and Universities across the country as well as in England, Italy and China. In 2016 she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for best choreography in Suzan Zeder’s When She Had Wings at Imagination Stage. Andrea holds an MFA in Playwriting from UT at Austin and a PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from UC Boulder. Andrea is also an aerialist who received her aerial training from Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Theatre, Susan Murphy at the Marsh Studio and various professional aerialists at the International Aerial Dance Festival. She is a member of Pacific Performance Project’s Studio Collective and teaches aerial silks at Limelight Fitness in Fort Collins.

Statera Member Spotlight: Anu Bhatt

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Anu Bhatt.

StateraArts: What organizations are you affiliated with?
Anu Bhatt: I am SAG-AFTRA and EMC, a member of StateraArts and CAATA (Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists).

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
AB: Storyteller. I feel that my calling is to highlight stories of people who have not had a platform before. Through my storytelling, I aim to create opportunities for people who look like me, as well as other minorities who have not felt represented onstage in the past.

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far. 
AB: I have to say my one-woman show Hollow/Wave, which I just performed off-Broadway at the United Solo Theatre Festival in October! Not only because I was able to perform skills that are not asked of me (dance, languages), but because it made me a stronger performer. I delved into issues I have not talked about onstage before like mental health, body image, and especially sexual trauma. These issues are beginning to be addressed in society, but the public face(s) talking about these issues don’t reflect my face. I wanted to offer a perspective from the South Asian community. I felt like by writing and performing my story, I could help broaden the representation of these issues.

SA: What inspires your work most?
AB: Empathy. I’m inspired by people who feel completely alone, because I myself have felt that way countless times. My work strives to show people like me that that is not the case. By writing, performing, even dancing, I’m trying to bridge the gap among all the individuals experiencing that sense of isolation.

Why did you become a STATERA member?
AB: I became a Statera member because I didn't feel like I had a community of women+ that I could really count on. When I joined the Chicago Mentorship Chapter I felt like I needed a mentor, yet I also knew I had a decent amount of experience after being in the city for 8 years. I wanted to pass on what I’d learned to someone else, and I wanted people to help me feel a part of something. Statera felt like that opportunity.

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
AB: I love that my artistic community really tries their best to lift each other up. Through vulnerability and being open with each other about setbacks in their own life, artists are now trying to support each other rather than operating from a scarcity mindset and tearing each other down.

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
AB: I can’t count one specific time or period of my life, but I would say that my mother and sister are my biggest female supporters. They’ve been emotionally supporting me for the last ten years as I’ve navigated my career as an actor. I’ve struggled a lot with my mental health as an actor, and acting has really delivered a blow to my personal confidence. They’ve been big supporters in those moments especially. Not trying to make the situation better. Just listening.

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
AB: My original plan for 2020 was to tour Hollow/Wave around the country, but that really changed after New York. I came home so drained. I was trying to market a show from across the country with little outside help and no resources from the festival. I came home feeling like I needed to reset. It doesn’t feel right anymore to tie my identity to acting, which is what I’ve been doing for the last ten years. Maybe I should allow myself to be something other than an actor and find confidence elsewhere for awhile. Something that is more stable for myself. I feel shame for admitting that. There’s so much shame in this industry for taking a break; “#NoDaysOff”, or “If I give up now, I’ll never make it.” But this is something I need to do for my own health. I’m looking into Linguistics, which was what I studied in undergrad and is my other passion.

SA: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work.
AB: I would have to say Minita Gandhi. She has really paved the way for me with my one-woman show. She performed Muthaland at Silk Road Rising, and I did mine there three years later. She speaks about sexual violence and the South Asian experience in her show as well. Minita helped me rehearse the show, too, for New York! On a larger scale, I’ve felt validated by seeing South Asian women step up to tell their own stories. There are so many of them in Chicago writing their own material and creating their own work. People aren’t waiting for permission to be cast by someone. We have sort of collectively said, “I’m interesting, let me tell my story! Here it is!” 

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
AB: Barbara Zahora is one of my biggest mentors. She was my teacher at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and she was also my director for Hollow/Wave. She has been an amazing advocate for artists in Chicago. She is also the director of Oak Park Festival Theatre in Chicago, and she’s an actor, and she’s a director! She’s truly been an advocate for diversity in her own companies. For me personally, she was someone I felt really valued empathy. She’s also constantly believed in me when I have aired doubts about my talent and career. We all really need someone who sees us as we want to be seen, even when we can’t see ourselves that way. Someone who sees the light within and reminds us how worthy we are of being in the community and on this earth.

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About ANU

Anu Bhatt is an actor, dancer and playwright. Her autobiographical one-woman show was first produced in Chicago and has toured off-Broadway at the United Solo Theatre Festival. Anu received her B.A. in Linguistics at U.C. Berkeley and her M.F.A. in Acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She spent almost a decade doing theatre and on-camera in Chicago and is now based in San Diego. Chicago: Northlight Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare and TimeLine Theatre, among others. Regional: Michigan Shakespeare Festival. TV: Chicago Fire, Chicago Med (NBC) and Electric Dreams (Amazon). Anu is a trained Indian classical dancer and is fluent in French! Thank you, StateraArts, for your support. www.anubhatt.com.

Statera Member Spotlight: Susan Bernfield

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Susan Bernfield.

StateraArts: What organizations are you affiliated with?
Susan Bernfeild: Primarily New Georges; I serve on the boards of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, The Indie Theatre Fund, The Assembly and 3LD, and am a member of the National Theatre Conference and the League of Professional Theatre Women.

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
SB: I’m the artistic director of New Georges, where I produce and develop exuberantly theatrical new plays by adventurous artists (who are women+).  I’m also a playwright, and sometimes a performer.

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far. 
SB: Y’know, being a producer’s like being a parent, you have to love all your children equally!  But I will say I feel especially special about GOD’S EAR, by Jenny Schwartz, directed by Anne Kauffman, which we produced in 2007 (it was re-mounted at the Vineyard Theater in 2008).  It is so beautiful and also so ideal, as a play, of course, but also as an experience of making a play. We all felt that, even then, it was really a moment. There are moments in that production I’d give my firstborn to see again, and lines from it still run through my head all the time. But what’s really incredible is coming to understand its influence over time.  Just a few weeks ago I was cleaning my office and unearthed a bunch of copies and asked my intern if she wanted one and she said “oh, I’ve read it. When I was 16. It blew my mind.” She took it anyway! Hey, everybody needs a copy of GOD’S EAR!

SA: What inspires your work most?
SB: The people.  Their ongoing desire to do this crazy thing.  And their genius ideas. I’m interested in producing something when it’s something I’ve never seen before and I get to do things I’ve never done before.  I produce impossible plays because I like to be there with and for cool artists who are willing to go way out on a limb, or theater-makers thinking up theatricalities that never would have occurred to me.  I’m a creative producer. I’m a hands-on collaborator in any process. I just love being in it with something absolutely new!

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
SB: Community has been a core value of New Georges forever. It’s productive, it’s fun, I’ve seen the rising tide of our community and all its inner collaborations lift its members over and over again. Community WORKS.  But the big secret is that I crave community. I think I’ve just made myself the community I need.

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
SB: I had a hyper-supportive mother and have great women friends.  But if the question is “when”... I think I’d say now.  I support and champion amazing women all day long, which means I get to be supported and championed in return.  Nice trick, huh? That’s been going on for a while, but I think I’ve hit a kind of groove, a new comfort level.

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
SB: We’re co-producing Colette Robert’s THE HARRIET HOLLAND SOCIAL CLUB PRESENTS THE 84TH ANNUAL STAR-BURST COTILLION IN THE GRAND BALLROOM OF THE RENAISSANCE HOTEL, with music and lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney, with The Movement Theatre Company in 2020.  Whew! It’s a fantastic piece first developed in our Audrey Residency program and one of the inaugural recipients of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s NYC Women’s Fund grant.

SA: What does gender parity in the arts look like to you?   
SB: Getting to a place where we’re not thinking about it.  We’re looking at equal numbers of pieces and people, we’re interested in a multitude of stories, so everything shakes down the right way.  I’m an optimist, and I think we’re on our way.

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
SB: Wow, I’m floored by the assumption that I had one (rather than IF I had one).  That feels like a sea change for me! When I started New Georges, in a very different time, basically by accident, as a not-very-keyed-in actor... a mentor didn’t seem attainable and not really all that relevant.  My career was all serendipity and happenstance, so... what would I have looked or asked for? Not to mention: I was pretty shy. There’s an explosion of women now starting careers in theater with a crazy kind of confidence which I think is awesome.  There are actually role models now. They’ve actually seen women, many women, make compelling lives in the theater in a variety of ways. They might even know some of these fancy women personally, they may even have been taught by them! That didn’t exist for me – there were role models, but certainly none I perceived as accessible to me. I didn’t know those people (or how to find them, I mean: it was before the internet!). 

However, I had an incredible circle of peers, and I still do.  I met a lot of them through ART/NY, the service organization for nonprofit theaters in New York, very early, and that was lucky.  We taught each other, brought each other up. Later on, I played poker with some downtown artistic directors (and still do). I considered them to be way ahead of me and superstars and I was frankly pretty scared of them, but then... I got to know them and I learned things.  Without these communities of peers, now some of my best friends in the world, I wouldn’t be here. And because we’ve always mentored each other, these are relationships that will never go away.

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About Susan

As founder and artistic director/producer of New Georges, Susan Bernfield has produced 48 new plays and countless works in progress by adventurous playwrights and directors (who are women+), establishing a boundary-pushing aesthetic based in exuberant theatricality and structural innovation. She is also a playwright whose work has been presented or developed at theaters nationwide. Susan serves as president on the board of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, on the boards of The Indie Theater Fund, The Assembly and 3LD, on the advisory board of the Drama League’s Beatrice Terry Residency, is a member of the National Theatre Conference and League of Professional Theatre Women, and the recipient of Obie and Lilly awards.

Statera Member Spotlight: Tonia Sina

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Tonia Sina.

StateraArts: What organizations are you affiliated with? 
Tonia Sina: I am the Executive Director and a leading consultant of Intimacy Directors International.

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
TS: I am an Intimacy Director, a choreographer, a workshop teacher and a performer.

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far.
TS: The work I do with Intimacy Direction is at the front of my career, and it’s what I spend the majority of my time on. I was the first Intimacy Choreographer and coined the phrase in my masters thesis. So that’s been main focus since 2003. It’s my favorite.

SA: What inspires your work most?
TS: I would say my team. The team I work with at IDI is incredibly important to the work I do. They inspire me to keep going. I am also motivated by my experience having a rare chronic disease and disability called AHUS. I’m waiting on my third kidney transplant currently and have been on dialysis for two years. I’ve only known my adult life with this illness, so its made me incredibly ambitious and focused. When IDI was first coming about, I really struggled trying to survive while starting a movement. You don’t know how much time you have, so you have to do everything now. 

I've been on this roller coaster for over 20 years. There are some years where I can't do very much and other years when I can do more. I am trying my best to take advantage of when I can do more. Other times I have to live moment to moment and breath to breath. I really had to learn how to balance if I wanted to survive and accomplish my mission.

SA: Why did you become a STATERA member?
TS: I have been really interested in STATERA for the longest time. I wanted to get more involved because I believe our missions are really aligned. My colleague did a presentation at your conference in Milwaukee last year and had a wonderful experience. I'm repeatedly told that we have to get in touch and collaborate! Doug Scholz-Carlson from Great River Shakespeare Festival had me teach a workshop for them a while ago, and shortly after had STATERA do a workshop as well. He later told me about the things he learned in regards to racial bias, gender parity, and thriving with intimacy design, and expressed that the two workshops were like a "one-two-punch". He felt they were absolutely life changing for his company. I love that we’ve already collaborated on some level, and now I’m just excited to be more involved!

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
TS: With my community of Intimacy Directors I love that everyone involved has an overwhelming desire to make the industry safer and better. We all have a real interest in shining flashlights into dark corners and helping the truth come to light about how we’ve treated each other in this industry. We have to make change if we want the abuse and harassment that we've been supporting for years to stop. They're all so dedicated to that mission. Enough is enough. We know there is a better way. There is still a lot of resistance to having intimacy directors in the room and debate on whether or not its even necessary. People still struggle to know what it is that we do. We are also spread out across the world, which is both challenging and invigorating. We have zoom chats to share our experiences and the sense of community helps us know we aren't alone in this fight. For 10 years I was the only Intimacy Director in the world! Having an army behind me has completely changed the tune of what it all means.

As soon as Not in Our House came about in Chicago I told my team to buckle up! Once the stories started coming out it was like a flood. No one was talking publicly for years and years and then it was this landslide of information. Our phones started ringing off of the hook after the 2016 election and then even more after the scandal with Profiles Theatre. It’s been insane, but very exciting.

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
TS: I think I have felt supported by the women in my life since I ran into Alicia Rodus, my Co-Founder. She and I are still working together to formulate what we are and what we want to become. IDI grew so fast that now we have to restructure to handle the demands. At one point it was only two or three of us handling dozens of inquiries. The women in my organization have always been the front runners of the work we do. The men haven’t wanted to be the face of the organization and expressed early on how they wanted the non-men to take a lead in this, which I think was a real show of the integrity on our team. We frequently ask ourselves and evaluate who should be the face of this movement. And it’s the victims of abuse that helped formulate our protocol, The Pillars, the most.

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
TS: I am the first Intimacy Director for Chicago Lyric Opera! Which is a big deal because Opera is really just now taking on Intimacy Directors. I'll be working on Dead Man Walking which goes up in November and then I start work on two shows at Steppenwolf. 

SA: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work. 
TS: I am greatly inspired by Anne Bogart. I have been an admirer of her work for a long time. I have read all of her books, use a lot of her techniques, and love her point of view and how she sees art. A Director Prepares is one of my bibles. She’s pretty prominent in the work that I do. Lots of women in the stage combat and stunt world inspire me as well. K. Jenny Jones was the first female fight master. She fought a lot of battles in a male-dominated industry and I feel like I am taking up the baton after her with a lot of other women. Whenever I am teaching women older than me in workshops, they tell me things I cannot fathom. I so admire what they had to put up with and be quiet about just to get by. 

Simply put, I'm just really excited about the future of intimacy direction. It went from 0 to 100 in just 15 years, and I can't wait to see where we go next.

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About Tonia

Tonia Sina (she/her) is the Executive Director and Founder of Intimacy Directors International. She has choreographed intimacy for the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, as well as Chicago Lyric Opera among other companies, and will be choreographing for Steppenwolf in November. She is an international sexual harassment prevention advisor for theatre, opera, and film. Recently featured in the NY Times, LA Times, Huffington Post, Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, American Theatre Magazine, CBC Radio and hundreds of other publications, podcasts, and radio shows, she is an international Intimacy for the Stage workshop teacher and choreographer. Tonia has been advocating for safe practices in Intimacy for the Stage since she began research as the first Intimacy Choreographer and coined the phrase for her thesis in 2004.

Originally an actress, fight director, and movement teacher, Tonia now advises Universities on their curricula to help prevent harassment and abuse in academia.

Tonia invented her own method, Intimacy for the Stage, which later was translated into the Pillars, which IDI now uses to set the industry standard for Intimacy Direction.

Also a director, playwright, model, and performer, Tonia is a soon to be triple kidney transplant recipient and rare and chronic disease patient advocate and national motivational speaker. She attended Niagara University for her BFA in theatre performance, and Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned her MFA in Movement Pedagogy with a specialty in Intimacy.

Statera Member Spotlight: Sarah McCarroll

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Sarah McCarroll.

StateraArts: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
Sarah McCarroll: Like many artists (and educators), I wear many hats. Teacher, designer, scholar; they’re all part of the mix, and each part informs and strengthens the others. If you make me pin it down, I suppose I think of myself as a scholar-practitioner, where my practice of costume design and technology is informed by my scholarship of period dress, embodiment, and Victorian theatre, and vice versa.

SA: What organizations are you affiliated with?
SM: I am an Associate Professor of Theatre at Georgia Southern University. I teach courses in Script Analysis and Theatre History, but I’m also the resident costume designer and costume shop director, so I teach Costume Design, too. Professionally, my home has been the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where I spent more than a decade of summers as a first hand and wardrobe supervisor.

SA: What inspires your work most?
SM: Verbs. Stephen Fry once said something about how he’s not an actor, he acts; he’s not a writer, he writes. These are actions we undertake, not static nouns that we are. And for me, what’s packed into the idea of a verb is the potential for change, and growth, and progression; movement and motion. I teach, but I’m not one thing as a teacher; I learn from my students, I get better, I find new ways to talk about my craft and its history. I write, and when I’m actively engaged in writing, I’m creating a new intellectual space with my words and ideas. When things get crazy, it’s easy to feel as though we are being tossed around by all the forces at work in our lives, and the reminder to myself that I have to verb through my days gives me a sense of my own agency and active presence in the world.

What do you love most about your artistic community?
Its breadth and depth. It may just be via social media, but my artistic community has outposts all over the country, and knowing that those people delight in my work, and allow me to delight in theirs makes the space I inhabit feel much larger than the small town I actually live in.

Why did you become a StateraArts member?
I became a Statera member because I believe in Statera’s mission, most particularly as it relates to the experiences I hope my students will have as they become part of the professional artistic community. Statera is one of the reasons that my students’ paths and possibilities will be broader; there will be more spaces open to them because of the work that we all do with Statera. We are each other’s network, safety net, and  mentors. We keep each other honest and we celebrate the victories of each of us as the victories of us all.

Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
I’m working on a book manuscript theorizing stage costumes as vehicles of memory. Costumes hold memories of the bodies of the actors who have worn them, in their sweat stains, the strains of their seams, the bare patches on elbows and knees; and I think that gives us a way to think about how we might, here and there, visit with the ghosts of vanished performances. Costumes also convey social memories onto the bodies of actors; garments hold cultural ideas about how the body should move and behave. By looking at both of these kinds of memory, I want to explore how audiences experience and understand the costumed actor.

Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work. 
I am inspired by the work of Dr. Amy Cook, who studies cognitive science and performance. Her most recent book, Building Character: The Art and Science of Casting, examines the ways in which we use mental images to structure the ways in which we “cast” people, on stage, certainly, but also in everyday life. What happens if we break open those categories of casting? What happens if we reimagine King Lear as a woman? Well, Glenda Jackson happens. And we learn new things about the character, the play, and the world by opening the door to new ideas about who can fit into particular roles.

 Amy was my dissertation advisor. Perhaps the most important lesson she offered me was, “make the world into the image you want it to have.” She helped me believe that an academic world in which I got to do both of the things I love – history and costumes – could exist, if I worked to shape the space I wanted to fill.

What does gender parity in the arts look like to you?
For me, gender parity would mean that when my students become the generation “in charge” of things, the industry would actually look like the classrooms I walk into every day, with at least 50% women+. (This is, of course, also about racial parity. My classrooms are also roughly one third non-white.) Gender parity will mean that we don’t allow women and non-binary artists to fall out of the pipelines to leadership. Instead, we demand that they be given space in those pipelines; we begin to empower and advance women+ and POC at the earliest possible points in their artistic lives, so that they believe those leaderships spaces are obvious and available career choices.

Mentorship is at the core of the StateraArts mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
This sounds so cliché, but can I say my mother? Her name is Dr. Roberta Rankin. In her professional life, she was a director and professor; she used to say to her students, “I get drunk on the sounds of the words we get to speak onstage.” I learned that intoxication from her. She was also a single parent, although my father was very much a part of my life, and she modeled the strength and the struggle of trying to carry so many identities at once – mother, teacher, director, etc. My mother is my first, greatest, and ongoing mentor. She taught me how to take a play apart to see what makes it tick, she encourages my whimsy, and she shows me how to tackle life’s challenges with grit and humor.

Stay tuned for a follow up article by Sarah McCarroll about creating resilient classrooms that provide students with creative space to fail and grow.

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Sarah McCarroll is an associate professor of theatre at Georgia Southern University, where she teaches courses in theatre history and script analysis, and is also the resident costume designer and shop manager. She has recently completed a term as editor of the journal Theatre Symposium, with volumes on Theatrical Costume, and Theatre and Embodiment. Her published work also appears in Theatre, Performance and Cognition: Languages, Bodies and Ecologies, and she is currently at work on a book theorizing stage costumes as vehicles of embodied memory. Sarah’s professional home is the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where she has served as first hand, wardrobe supervisor, and dramaturg. She holds a PhD from Indiana University and an MFA from the University of Alabama.

Statera Member Spotlight: Michaela Goldhaber

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Michaela (Mickey) Goldhaber.

StateraArts: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
Michaela Goldhaber: I’m a playwright and director. Most of my career has been as a director, but I always wrote. I had a stroke 11 years ago, and at that point I decided I needed to move back to the Bay Area. Part of my mom's pitch at the time for getting me back home was saying, “Hey, you can finally write that play you’ve been talking about for so long!” I had been working on my play The Lady Scribblers for years. Once I got settled in back in California, I started taking classes at Berkeley Rep, and then joined the Central Works Theatre Company's writers group. I was a member there for 3 years, and that's how I finally finished the play!  

SA: What organizations are you affiliated with?
MG: I am the Artistic Director for Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theatre Group, the Lead Instigator of Bay Area Women's Theatre Festival, and a Dramatist Guild member. One interesting aspect of my life is my partner Chris Hall is the leader of a group called Godless Perverts, which is a social justice activist group that presents and promotes a positive view of sexuality without religion. So I am also a proud Godless Pervert!

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far.
MG: Well, when I was living in New York my friend Heather Ondersma and I had a company called Flying Fig Theater, with our mission being to tell women’s stories onstage through new works and by rediscovering women playwrights of the past. I’m particularly interested in the female playwrights of the restoration. My favorite play is The Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret by Susanna Centlivre. I directed it as my thesis in grad school at UCLA and then in New York with my company. Working on that play has brought me great joy and I'm sure I will continue to work on it throughout my career. Another favorite project was the first show I directed after my stroke, which was Bedtime in Detroit at Boxcar Theatre. It was a really exciting project, but at first I wasn’t sure how I would be as a director after so many changes had happened to my body. Through that process I found out I could still direct and continue to connect deeply with actors. This discovery was thrilling.  

SA: What inspires your work most? 
MG: Telling women's stories. That's what matters most to me. My work is fueled by making room for women and people with disabilities on the stage.  

SA: Why did you become a STATERA member?
MG: Because of Martha Richards!! I was so excited and happy for Martha when I learned that StateraArts took on SWAN Day. Once that was part of Statera, I HAD to become involved, because I have been part of SWAN Day for years now and it means so much to me. It was SWAN day that formed the core of the Bay Area Women's Theatre Festival. I was part of a Women’s Theatre Festival in North Carolina last year when we did a reading of The Lady Scribblers. I was feeling so inspired afterwords that I hopped on a Facebook group I belong to called “'Yeah I said Feminist' A Theatre Salon” and I asked, “Hey who wants to help me start a women's theatre festival in the Bay Area? Within 20 mins we had the first meeting set up. A team of 15 women instantly came together to make it happen. We now have 40 participating theatre companies in the Bay Area. We will also be part of a panel at StateraCon this October, and I can't wait!

 SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
MG: I have two that I'd love to share! Wry Crips Occupy! is a new piece about the 504 sit in in 1977 when disabled activists took over the federal building in San Francisco in order to push the issuance of long-delayed regulations regarding Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. We are giving our first performance of it this week; a staged reading at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley. It's a really neat building where the major disability organizations operate out of. We'll be performing in the atrium there. It has this beautiful bright red swirling ramp going all the way down that will make for a perfect backdrop. Following the reading, we are taking the show to ACT’s Costume Shop Theatre along with Regan Linton, Artistic Director of Phamaly Theatre. Our show will be performed alongside her piece, FDR Drag Show, for three public performances. It's going to be an action packed event! Then in the spring, my play The Lady Scribblers will have its world premiere March 6th-29th at Custom Made Theatre Company as part of the Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival, which will run from March 1 to May 31, 2020

SA: What does gender parity in the arts look like to you?
MG: For me, I think it's important to start with women's stories. It’s not just about the numbers. I want to see more stories that highlight women’s achievements and women in history. My particular interest is in digging in to the history of a certain era and then asking myself, "What were the women doing then?" So often everything we learn in history is always about the men of the times. A world of theatre where women’s stories are as important as men's stories is a world of parity, to me. The ground rules for the Women’s Theatre Festival is that is that every production has to be written and directed by a woman or non-binary artist and the cast and design team have to have gender parity. We’ve had to be very strict about that. But we were clear from the get-go that this is what we are looking for. We reached out to theatres in the area and said, "As you are planning your next season, is there a play you’re looking at doing that was written by a woman? If not, may we recommend one to you?" Then I'm also looking at where the people with disabilities are and how we can build more representation for us as well. 

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
MJ: My greatest mentor in the theatre was Barbara Oliver, an actor and director here in Bay Area. When she reached a certain age and wasn’t being cast in roles that interested her anymore, she founded Aurora Theatre Company, which is a really a thriving theatre here that does fantastic work. She commissioned a playwright friend to write a piece and because she knew everyone in the Bay Area she was able to assemble a top cast. I had just finished college and was assistant directing at California Shakespeare Festival and she took me on as her Assistant Director. She was my champion and friend and mentor and was completely indefatigable. She worked in the theatre right up until her death, working on a tour in her 80s, and still directing at 85! She inspired me so much. She really knew what she wanted in all aspects of her career and was so kind and generous to everyone she met. At her memorial service at the Berkley Rep, a  woman maybe 10 years younger than me stood up and talked about how Barbara was her mentor, and what she shared was so similar to my story that for a minute I felt like, “Hey, I thought I was her mentee!” Then of course I realized, "Wow. How powerful it is that she was able to have this relationship with so many people and we all benefited so much and felt so special.” She completely shaped my early career. 

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Interested in becoming a member of StateraArts?
Learn more at www.stateraarts.org/membership.

Statera Member Spotlight: Malini Singh McDonald

StateraArts members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Malini Singh McDonald.

STATERA: What inspires your work most?
MALINI SINGH McDONALD: Other people. One of the great opportunities I have with Theatre Beyond Broadway is that I'm aware of who is creating. And I have to tell you, being able to see what other people are doing at all levels (when it’s very green; in the early stage of their development; a complete rewrite or reworking of a piece; all of it) and the fact that we are all willing to keep creating, inspires me. Also, whenever someone has a desire to create something and I'm able to have a hand in making that come through, it fulfills me. I always tell people, "if you have a dream go after it!" You can. Dreams do come true. You just have to have a clear path about what you're going to do to achieve them.

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
MSM: I am a director, producer, and publicist.

SA: What organizations are you affiliated with?
MSM: Co-VP of Communications for the League of Professional Theatre Women, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the Associate Producer for the Broadway Artist Connection, producing partner for The Anthropologists, and a member of StateraArts! 

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far.
MSM: That's hard! Recently I directed The Wiz in Liberia, West Africa with a group of young people (Matsiko World Choir) who had never done theatre. They've never seen it or performed it. They definitely had experience singing in front of crowds but that is a different platform. It was definitely a teaching opportunity. It was also difficult because we were only there for twelve days and The Wiz is not an easy show! The luxuries we have in NYC isn’t quite available. You can't simply run down the road to grab a prop or call your theatre connections to ask for glow tape. It was literally, "What do we have at hand and what can we do with it?". But it was magical because we had 42 kids performing and 8 on the production team and to get to see 50 kids' eyes light up and the theatre bug bite them, it's inexpressible. Theatre is lives in all of us. The desire for acceptance and validation is universal. Watching them take in the fact that they made this from scratch (we let them create the set), and to hear the applause they received was inspiring.

SA: Why did you become a STATERA member?
MSM: There's something fiery about how you inspire and talk about artists of all backgrounds. I often wonder, "Are we creating a bigger conversation or just talking amongst ourselves?" We could all sit in someone’s living room and talk about the woes of the world for hours, but what action are we taking? Statera is fueling that action. The way Statera builds opportunity is so important. StateraCon is also really exciting to me - to get to see what other women are doing. I'm at a place in my career where I don't need to do things just to do them. Being in action is really important to me. However I show up, I want to make sure I'm making a change, a difference, being a voice for someone who doesn't have a voice yet. I can do that. I also have a ridiculous circle of warrior women (and men) who are my sisters and brothers in arms. The women I surround myself with are fire-starters. I'm looking forward to making more of these connections through Statera.

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us?
MSM: I'm producing the Cherry Orchard at Dixon Place at the end of this year, and am on the team for Chasing Rainbows at Paper Mill Playhouse. I always try to have a commercial project and an indie project on my docket together!

SA: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work.
MSM: Marina Abramovic is someone I'm kind of obsessed with. It feels like she is doing what I don't have the guts to do. She’s the person who I think "Okay, wow you are truly an artist. You are breaking boundaries." I think at times I channel a little bit of that energy, but never completely. Not to that extent.

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
MSM: My mentor is my professor from undergrad, Eleanor. I've known her since I was 18. She embodies everything I want to be. She is strong woman, clear about what she wants, and clear about her needs. That attracted so many of us to want to be under her tutelage. Eleanor taught us that we had to learn every aspect of the theatre, respect everyone on the team, that not one artist was better than the other because of "title". Her casts were diverse regardless of the time period of a production. As a result, we all had a chance to perform in classics, musicals, etc. She's the one who said to me, "Malini, why don't you direct?". She's my biggest fan, and I still see her often. There's yet to be a show where I didn't have a conversation with her first. Eleanor is always so proud of me. I can tell. This industry is difficult for someone who looks like me. It didn't come easily for her either. She lived and worked in the midst of the theatre community here in New York City in the 1970s and so forth, and while she was perfectly qualified, she never directed on Broadway, like she'd dreamed. There weren't many women being given that opportunity then. She’s been a happy retiree, still teaching and still inspiring me. I hope I am carrying that fire.

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ABOUT MALINI

MALINI SINGH MCDONALD is a native New Yorker who has been involved in the arts for her entire life. She received her BA in Theatre Arts and English Literature from Baruch College and her MFA in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School. Select theatre credits include the upcoming Chasing Rainbow (Paper Mill Playhouse), the revival of Godspell (Producer, Broadway Revival); The Year of Living Dangerously (Publicist, 54 Below); Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg (Publicist, HERE Arts Center); From Ship to Shape (Publicist, Winner of Two United Solo Awards); The Eternal Space (Associate Producer & Marketing Director, Theatre Row); The Wiz (Director, Matsiko World Orphan Choir, Liberia); Torch Song Trilogy (Director, ATA); Hamlet: The Viking Prince of Denmark (Producer, Black Henna Productions). Malini is also the founder of Theatre Beyond Broadway which provides a platform to promote and support independent artists. Malini is the Co-VP of Communications for the League of Professional Theatre Women, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the Associate Producer for the Broadway Artist Connection, producing partner for The Anthropologists, and a member of StateraArts. Malini has been recognized for her role in the community with the Woman of Distinction Award for her contribution to Media, Arts and Culture from the City of New York. www.malinism.com and www.theatrebeyondbroadway.com.

Statera Member Spotlight: Andrea Prestinario

StateraArts Membership is growing fast! Since our official launch on January 1st, over 100 artist-activists have joined the StateraArts community! Our members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Prestinario.

STATERA: What inspires your work most?
ANDREA PRESTINARIO: First and foremost, my work is inherently inspired by a calling to use my gifts and voice to give back to the world. And secondly, my work is rooted in a foundational belief that being an artist has saved me. And I mean “saved” in a "I feel like I will implode when I can't express myself" way. My work is my release. My work is my life's purpose. I love the lyrics by songwriter Ani DiFranco: "Art is why I get up in the morning, but ya know, my definition ends there and it doesn't seem fair that I'm living for something I can't even define." It's all so undefined and ephemeral and magical and intense… but it's all inspiration to me.

SA: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
AP: Actress / Singer / Producer / Community Organizer

SA: What does gender parity in the arts look like to you?
AP: What I envision is a future where women and TGNC artists are valued equitably with the other half of the human race in this industry. In short - it looks like smashing the patriarchy. The first way we achieve this is through education: education of the white supremacist, patriarchal systems of power.  Have you heard the saying "fish don't know they're in water"? If you tried to explain it, they’d say, “Water? What’s water?” They’re so surrounded by it, that it’s impossible to see. They can’t see it until they get outside of it. The Honorable Hillary Clinton references it in her book What Happened in regards to patriarchy: some people can't see the structural systems in place because it's all-consuming and we're, er, swimming in it. And I think often about how the basic understanding of patriarchy is what hinders so many people from working against it. Once we understand it, we can work within the framework to dismantle it. As artists, we are resourceful and adaptable and we tell stories about humanity, so who better to achieve gender parity and dismantle these systemic power abuses than the arts industry?! 

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
AP: I love my many artist circles because artists are resourceful, adaptable, creative, personable, entertaining, passionate, passionate, and passionate. I am obsessed with centering myself around people that feel their feelings and crackle and percolate at a high energy... it makes me feel alive. 

SA: What organizations are you affiliated with?
AP: I'm the co-founder and Director of Operations of Ring of Keys - a national network of queer women, trans, and gender non-conforming artists working in musical theatre;  I am the Board Chair of National Queer Theater; I'm a member of my alma mater's Alumni Council for the Department of Theatre and Dance at Ball State University, I'm a 10-year card-carrying Member of Actors' Equity ...and I'm a member of Statera!

SA: Why did you become a STATERA member?
AP: Because feminism and theatre have always been my two passions, and anytime I have the opportunity to see them existing at an intersection, it pumps me up! So in essence, Statera pumps me up! My personal mission aligns so well with Statera's: to use positive action to advocate for and amplify women and marginalized voices. Theatre has always been political, but in the musical theatre medium (which is the medium I work in primarily) a political ethos isn't necessarily at the forefront. Throughout my 20s, my passions felt very siloed: political activism in one corner, and musical theatre in another. And I feel like I spent most of my 20s searching for that intersection. There's been a surge of activism within theatre circles, which I feel has happened since the 2016 election, and it's the light in the Trumpian darkness. The Statera community has been one of those lights that I stumbled upon, and I'm grateful to be able to count myself as a member. 

SA: When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
AP: I'm fortunate to have a core group of 8 girlfriends from high school and we have remained strong for the last 20 years. I’m the only one working in the arts, but our friendship began in our high school theatre classes. From breakups to deaths to promotions to parenting - we have combated so many different life milestones together - it’s actually pretty remarkable. And despite our career, geographic, and lifestyle differences, they have still supported me throughout my career by championing me with their words and showing up to my performances all over the country. And I, in turn, champion them. I think it's actually really refreshing to have friendships outside of the business. And I think those friendships keep me grounded. 

SA: Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far.
AP: I have so many favorite productions that I've done, but I think Ring of Keys, as a whole, could be considered my favorite project. My co-founder and I launched Ring of Keys in January of 2018 as the solution to what we saw as a problem in casting and a lack of community. We were tired of feeling isolated as the token lesbian anytime we were in a production. I like to say musical theatre is gay but not queer, meaning: it’s representing cis gay male stories and artists, but what about the full spectrum of queer? Ring of Keys "strives to kick-(ball-change) the closet door open and reveal a vibrant, diverse musical theatre landscape for the future;" we want to queer the stage. As an arts service organization, we are about community and visibility and serve our mission through our Member Directory, located on our website, which operates as a hiring resource. Since our launch last year, we have grown from 3 members to 250+ Members all over the nation (as well as in Toronto and London!).

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
AP: I've been working on and off on a documentary theatre piece about child-free womanhood. It focuses specifically on women in their 30s. It's an interview-based devised work that explores the theatricalized, tick-tock experience of being child-free - whether by choice, indecision, fertility trials, singledom, or a myriad of other experiences. I started working on this piece after a lot of research on "advanced maternal age" (the age of women over 35) when I was 35. I felt as though all of the women in my life were talking around this topic, but in private conversations. From a single friend who desperately wanted to have a child with a partner, to the married friend feeling indecisive about motherhood yet intensely urgent to make a choice, to myself (who is gay and has never wanted children). I personally have had to  defend this decision repeatedly against folks that treat motherhood as the default choice. It feels like something we need to be talking about as a community so we aren't wrestling with these choices alone. I'm currently collecting and transcribing interviews. Any person who feels they'd like to be interviewed for this project should contact me!

SA: Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work. 
AP: I know this is probably cliché to say, but my girlfriend, Klea Blackhurst, inspires my work. She and I met doing a production of GYPSY, and she is such an inspiration for her insane talent, her resilience in the face of constant showbiz rejection, and her musical theatre knowledge! And a side note: I am sometimes full of rage that her name is not on top of every marquee in this city because she is such a star! She values curiosity most, and in our home we talk a lot about the importance of always maintaining this essential human characteristic: to be curious about the world - in people not like you, in interests outside of the arts, to even be curious in why you're not being curious! It's important to know the history of that which came before. It's important to ask why. That is our job as artists: to ask these questions and take it all in, and then express that humanity in our work. 

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the STATERA mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity?
AP: One of my earliest mentors is my friend Michelle. When I was 11, I was in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Chicago Theatre with Donny Osmond and Michelle worked as a dresser. After the show closed (and because there was no internet yet), we became pen pals, and are dear friends still to this day. While I didn't know it at the time, Michelle, who is gay, told me in adulthood that what she saw in me was a gay kid growing up in the Midwest, and she wanted to make sure I had the support I may need as I grew up. It's incredibly emotional that she made the investment in me that she did. Not only was/is she a queer role model, but she has remained in the arts, and always has such sage advice for me within the business, about relationships, how to manage time... I can only hope to pay it forward someday.  

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ABOUT ANDREA

Andrea Prestinario is an award-winning actress, singer, and activist who is NYC-based and Chicago-grown. Regional – Baltimore Center Stage: Fun Home (Alison); Weston Playhouse: Fun Home (Alison), Guys & Dolls (Sarah Brown); Asolo Rep: My Fair Lady (Eliza) dir. Frank Galati; A.C.T. San Francisco: 1776 (Martha) dir. Frank Galati; Paramount Theatre Aurora: RENT (Maureen), My Fair Lady (Eliza); Lyric Opera Chicago: Oklahoma! (Gertie) dir. Gary Griffin; Drury Lane Oakbrook: Gypsy (Louise), Curtains, Sugar, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Writers’ Theatre: Oh, Coward!; Boho Theatre Company: Side Show (Violet – Jeff Award, Leading Actress). Solo show – sMOkeyTOWN: The Songs of Smokey Robinson: Laurie Beechman, Mayne Stage Chicago, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Beverly Arts Center Chicago, Metropolis (Arlington Heights) Arts Center.
Education – BFA Ball State University (Musical Theatre), The School at Steppenwolf. Professional – Co-founder: Ring of Keys, a national network of queer women and TGNC artists working in musical theatre.
You can follow Andrea via her website www.andreaprestinario.com or on social media @andreaprestinario.

Statera Member Spotlight: Betsy Mugavero

StateraArts Membership is growing fast! Since our official launch on January 1st, over 90 artist-activists have joined the StateraArts community! Our members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Producing Artistic Director of Southwest Shakespeare Company, Betsy Mugavero.

What is your occupation or calling in the arts? 
I came into theater as an actor. Now, I'm a producer and actor. I'm not certain which of those is a calling or an occupation to me! I do both Full Time. I'm happy doing both and feel passion for both... Hopefully, someone will figure it out when they write my obituary one day...:)

Tell us about your favorite project you've done thus far.
Shakespeare is my life's work. Every Shakespeare play I perform in is my favorite project at the time. Now that I'm wearing the Producer hat, having more control over how we shape Shakespeare for our modern audience is really exciting to me.

Why did you become a StateraArts member?
I became a member of Statera because I'm looking for community to support me and to offer support to, particularly in women. We're constantly fed a narrative that we all need to be competitive with each other, especially in the arts, and I do not think that is true at all. I firmly believe that if you believe there is enough pie for everyone, there will be enough. Statera is baking the pie and we're all adding ingredients. It's delicious and enlivening. 

What other organizations are you affiliated with? 
Co-Producing Artistic Director, Southwest Shakespeare Company; Actors' Equity Association

What do you love most about your artistic community?
I'm new to Phoenix, which is my current community. What I love most is how many artists there are here creating and producing their own work! I also recently learned that the arts contributed to $32 million in state tax revenues! People in Arizona support and value the arts. It's a great new place to be with tons of potential.

When did you feel most supported or championed by the women in your life?   
I have been lucky to have worked with women in theater who have helped carved a place for me by demanding their own respect for their talent and worth. Right now, I feel most championed by women who are younger than me, because they are looking at me as an example of someone who is in a position of artistic leadership at a professional theater company, juggling motherhood, marriage, being a professional actor, and staying healthy all at once. I keep wondering why there are so many more young women than men in production and on stage in high school drama club, and yet, when we get into the professional world, there are few women leading as directors, producers, and in arts administration. I doubt those young women lost their passion. I don't doubt that what they found as they began a professional career that they were told there wasn't room for mothers, or they couldn't be a mother if they chose to stay in the profession, or most likely, the didn't SEE any mothers around. I have to be my whole self when I'm on stage, I have to be my whole self as a producer. That means understanding the reality of having a family and arranging my life so that I can have both. Mary Way, Executive Director of Southwest Shakespeare Company, has never once made me feel like my being a mother hinders my ability to lead. I'm incredibly grateful for her confidence and belief in me. She's definitely an everyday champion for me.

Tell us about another woman or non-binary artist who inspires your work. 
Every woman out there telling her story, and empowering others to tell theirs is my inspiration.

Mentorship is at the core of the StateraArts mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity? 
I'm actually looking for a mentor! I'm lucky to have people I can turn to for advice and guidance- the best advice I got from a female Artistic Director was to make sure to take care of myself. It's very easy in the arts to put your own needs to the side to keep the "baby" alive, but that can lead to incredible fatigue and illness. You can't lead if you aren't well. I've taken that advice very seriously.  I'd really like to have a female mentor to converse with on a regular basis about being a manager and producer for the arts. It's a completely different ballgame for women and having a coach who understands some of the challenges I face on a personal level to help me navigate through would be extremely beneficial to me! 

Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us? 
Yes! Southwest Shakespeare Company is hosting Harlem Shakespeare Festival as they produce an All Female Othello! April 19-28 at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ. Debra Ann Byrd is starring the title role, Vanessa Morosco directs.

Othello runs April 19-28 at Taliesin West Pavilion theater in Scottsdale, AZ!
Ticket and info at www.swshakespeare.org

Statera Member Spotlight: Chrissy Collins

StateraArts Membership is growing fast! Since our official launch on January 1st, over 80 artist-activists have joined the StateraArts community! Our members come from all over the USA and all genres of art-making. They are educators, arts leaders, activists, content-creators, professional artists, early career, mid-career, patrons, and community organizers. The Statera Member Spotlight is just one way StateraArts uplifts and amplifies the voices of our members. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Stage Manager and Yoga Instructor, Chrissy Collins.

STATERAARTS: What is your occupation or calling in the arts?
CHRISSY COLLINS: Stage Manager and Teacher

SA: What moved you to become a member of StateraArts? 
CC: I really wanted to get more involved in the arts community and to widen my circle of colleagues. When I found out about Statera, the mission just clicked with my own!

SA: Any other organizations you are affiliated with?
CC: Actors' Equity Association, Yoga Alliance

SA: What do you love most about your artistic community?
CC: The tremendous support, strength, and love that I feel from my theater family is something I truly can't live without.  Honestly, they are some of the most dedicated, hard-working individuals out there who consistently go above and beyond for their students, their work, and their colleagues.  

SA: Tell us about some of your favorite projects.
C: Definitely a three way tie Ragtime, Les Mis, and 39 Steps.  I've been so very lucky to work on many, many amazing and challenging projects that have helped me grow as an artist.  

SA: Any upcoming projects you'd like to share with us?  
CC: I recently returned to my artistic home, PCPA Pacific Conservatory Theatre, after a five year hiatus. I'm so very happy and grateful to be part of that community again and support their upcoming productions. We just opened a production of The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and it's been thrilling to have so many strong, fierce women on stage!

SA: Mentorship is at the core of the StateraArts mission. Tell us about one of your mentors. How did they shape you or provide pathways for opportunity? 
CC: Patricia Troxel has been one of my dear friends and mentors for years now and will always be even though she's no longer with us.  Her infectious smile, laugh, and positive energy made us all believe anything was possible.   Patricia was a true example of unconditional love, friendship, and passion, and I carry her lessons with me still today.

Statera Mentorship: Central Coast regional coordinators during a recent meeting. Chrissy Collins (standing top-left) with (left to right) Z Jennifer Zornow, Kitty Balay, Karin Hendricks, Amani Dorn, and Emily Trask.

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ABOUT CHRISTINE COLLINS

Christine Collins is a proud California native from the Bay Area who holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Stage Management has been her artistic calling since early on and she enjoys sharing her love of theater and stage management with the next generation. She has stage managed over 60 productions with PCPA's Pacific Conservatory Theatre and is so grateful to be in residence there, where she considers it her true artistic home. She was recently on a five year hiatus before returning to PCPA, during which she became a certified yoga instructor and yoga studio manager. Chrissy is the proud pet parent of Katie and Dancer, and a friend to all!