Meet the Team
Lipica Shah and Kareem Badr in Gabriel Jason Dean’s HEARTLAND, directed by Ari Laura Kreith. PHOTO: Jody Christopherson
Ari Laura Kreith | Artistic Director
ari.laura.kreith@lunastage.org | Ari Laura Kreith is the Artistic Director of Luna Stage, where her directing credits include MRS. STERN WANDERS THE PRUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY (World Premiere), HEARTLAND (NJ Star Ledger Top 10 Productions of 2019), PIRIRA, and the pandemic play-via-text-message #RIFT. She conceived and is currently developing the site-specific GROUND ON WHICH WE STAND, centering around the first home owned by a formerly enslaved person in Montclair; conceived and co-created the interdisciplinary VOTING WRITES PROJECT; and launched SECRET CITIES, commissioning history-based, community-inspired plays. Under her leadership, Luna launched a Teen Conservatory, received two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and was twice voted Favorite Small Theatre in New Jersey. Ari is also the founder of Theatre 167, where she conceived and directed THE JACKSON HEIGHTS TRILOGY — three full-length plays collaboratively written by eighteen playwrights featuring 37 actors in 93 roles in fourteen languages, inspired by the world's most diverse neighborhood. Other directing highlights: MOURNING SUN (Theatre 167/ Uganda), Tina Howe's SINGING BEACH (World Premiere), and commissions for Queens Museum and NY Transit Museum. A recipient of the League of Professional Theatre Women Lucille Lortel Visionary Award, Ari received her BA from Yale and her MFA from UC Davis. She grew up in 27 countries.
Lucas Pinner | Production and Facilities Manager / Teaching Artist: Improv, Stage Combat
lucas.pinner@lunastage.org | Lucas Pinner is an actor, fight choreographer ,and teaching artist who graduated from Kean University with a BFA in Theatre Performance. For the last decade, he has worked as a teaching artist with many theatres and schools in New Jersey, teaching a variety of classes and workshops including acting techniques, improvisation, stage combat, devised theatre, and production. He has taught in-school theatre arts-integrations residencies, summer theatre intensives, after school programs, and Professional Development workshops for teachers. lucaspinner.com
Carla Brothers | Teaching Artist: Teen Acting Technique
For over 30 years, Carla Brothers has been a professional actor in film, television, and Broadway. Films include: THE FIVE HEARTBEATS and 10,000 BLACK MEN NAMED GEORGE for SHOWTIME. Television includes: COSBY, THIRD WATCH, and MIAMI VICE. On Broadway she starred in the hit a cappella musical, SHEILA'S DAY, which received international accolades as well. Off- Broadway venues: NEW FEDERAL THEATRE, THE MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB and THE PUBLIC THEATER. Regional credits: CROSSROADS THEATRE, HARTFORD STAGE, FORD’S THEATRE, and THE KENNEDY CENTER. Carla is the recipient of 4 AUDELCO Awards for acting excellence. As a playwright and composer, Carla is currently writing both book and score for an original musical. Carla began her teaching career in the 1980’s, serving 4 years as head acting instructor of the YOUNG PEOPLE'S ACTING PROGRAM at the LEE STRASBERG THEATRE & FILM INSTITUTE in New York City. Since then, she has conducted her acting workshops and classes throughout the New York metropolitan area. For 8 years Carla served on the faculty of MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY’S GIFTED AND TALENTED YOUTH PROGRAM teaching a wide range of creative writing and performing arts classes. Additionally, Carla has formulated a methodology for dynamic public speaking. Carla Brothers holds a BFA in Theater from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and holds a “Teacher of Theater” certification from the N.J. Department of Education.
Dawn Pasquin | Finance Associate
Dawn joined Luna Stage in 2019. Having recently received her MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College, Dawn is combining her extensive previous business experience with her interest in arts education to work toward making theatre more accessible to new and diverse audiences.
Julia Murphy | Teaching Artist / Director of Summer Conservatory
julia.murphy@lunastage.org | Julia Murphy holds a BFA in Music Theatre from the University at Buffalo. She is an actress, dancer, and singer with a strong passion for teaching the arts. She has worked with several theatre companies in Buffalo including MusicalFare Theatre and O’Connell & Company Theatre where she worked as a performer and choreographer. As Education Coordinator at Second Generation Theatre in Buffalo, she worked with several schools to increase access to the arts in underserved communities. She has also worked as a choreographer and dance soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. With experience as both a middle school and high school teacher, she is committed to the supportive and enriching development of young artists. Julia specializes in teaching dance and theatre and is currently on teaching faculty at Backstage Performing Arts Center and Starr Dance Company. She is very grateful to be a part of the Luna Stage team!
Liz Samuel | Teaching Artist: Theatrical Storytelling and Movement
Liz Samuel is an actress, producer, writer, host and teacher. She is a SAG-AFTRA actor in film and television and has acted in many plays both in NJ and NYC. Liz has appeared in projects for NBC, CBS, Apple TV, Netflix, and more. She is the founder, host, and producer of the Montclair Story Salon, a bi-monthly storytelling fundraising event series. Liz also created and starred in the award-winning digital series MOMTRESS, a semi-autobiographical dramedy. In addition to her creative pursuits, Liz is passionate about teaching. She offers drama and storytelling enrichment classes in the Montclair area, where she helps students develop their performance skills and discover their own unique voices. Liz also coaches actors and writers privately for auditions and storytelling endeavors.
Natasha Gallop | Teaching Artist: Acting, Creative Drama, Improv
Natasha Gallop is a Newark, NJ native who is thrilled to be back home after a long stint in Washington, D.C and Atlanta, Georgia. Her resume includes a wide range of experience covering everything from theatre, television, and commercials to radio ads as well. She has worked with companies like Only Make Believe in D.C. and Kaiser Permanente to provide interactive art experiences for children within care facilities and the public school system of Baltimore, respectively. Natasha has also worked to develop the interpersonal communication skills of our future doctors and lawyers at George Washington University, Howard University, American University, and Washington College of Law, to name a few. She received her Mass Communications degree from Paine College in Augusta GA and then her Master of Fine Arts in Acting from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She can currently be found as the face to Baltimore’s road safety campaign Look Alive. It brings Natasha nothing but joy to be able to finally give her gifts back to the place that nurtured her from the start.
Natasha Warner | Teaching Artist: Scene Study
Natasha Warner is a theater artist whose body of work straddles new plays and the classics. As an actor, Natasha has appeared at New York theaters including HERE Art Space, MCC, The Civilians, The Lark, and New York Performance Space (formerly PS 122). Regional credits include New York Stage and Film, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Geva Theater, Merrimack Repertory Theater, The White Heron, The Cape Playhouse, Boston Court, and the Gulfshore Playhouse. TV: Ground Floor (TBS); and Betas (Prime). Film: Odyssea (Slamdance) and Farah Goes Bang (TriBeCa). Upcoming: Space Cadet (Prime). Natasha also worked as a producer and on-set acting coach for the film The Unknown Country starring Lily Gladstone, which premiered at SXSW in 2022. As a director and teaching artist, Natasha has worked at Juilliard, PlayMakers Rep, The Vineyard, The Tank, Shakespeare at the Manor, Bellarmine Jefferson High-School, and with community programs like 52nd St. Project and Hunts Point Alliance for Children. Natasha completed her MFA at Juilliard where she received the Laura Pels Award, the Bill Irwin Scholarship, and the prestigious Goldman Fellowship for her teaching work.
Turron Kofi Alleyne | Teaching Artist: Acting
Award-nominated actor, Turron Kofi Alleyne, has worked with some of Hollywood’s most esteemed A-List directors, producers, and actors such as Spike Lee, Jonathan Nolan, Mark Wahlberg, Zoe Saldana, Michael B. Jordan, Lawrence Fishburne, and others. One of his most notable roles is his recurring guest star portrayal of Calvin Newcombe in the ABC series FOR LIFE. He’s been featured in Independent Films that have premiered at various prestigious film festivals including Sundance, ABFF, LA Film Festival, Vails Film Festival, and more. Turron also enjoys teaching acting where his students learn the difference between “performing” and “living truthfully” by guiding them away from performing habits and toward more organic real-life responses that spur and change from moment to moment. He accomplishes this through improvisational games, methods, and techniques rooted in the Sanford Meisner Technique.
Emeriti
Jane Mandel | Founding Artistic Director
Jane Mandel is the Founding Artistic Director of Luna Stage where she served as AD for over twenty years. With her guidance, Luna earned a reputation for producing excellent, intelligent, and provocative theatre, where scores of new and classic plays are brought to audiences through readings and full productions. One of her passions is creating devised theatre. She developed and directed IN THE NAME OF THE WOMAN, an original exploration beginning with the ancient time of the Goddess; “we don’t have enough sugar for the public,” an exploration of racism; and THE AMERICAN PROJECT an exploration of what it means to be an American. She also co-created and directed MI CASA TU CASA, a bilingual Latino-based play with music. Read more about Jane’s work with Luna Stage here.
Board of Directors
Danah Alexander
Laura Amin
Faith Baum
Lisa Marie Bronson
Debra Caplan
Taylor Margis-Noguera
Raj Amin, Special Advisor to the Board
Advisory Board
Ruthi Byrne
Rose Cali
R. Jonathan Cobb
reg e gaines
Cady Huffman
Rosemary Iversen
Palisa Kelley
Joe Morton
Cal Trevenen
Gila Zalon
Jules Zalon
Kim Zimmer
Kevis Hillocks in J. Stephen Brantley’s PIRIRA, directed by Ari Laura Kreith. PHOTO: Jody Christopherson