Mission Statement

 

Based in New York/New Jersey and producing off off Broadway since 1999, Elixir Productions Theatre Company is committed to developing plays and performances about gender, sexuality, and the impact of sexual identity on society, human relationships, and our selves. Made from equal parts tradition and experimentation, we aim to create a uniquely queer experience where our voices can reach new possibilities and summon new power in shaping our culture.

Core Members

 

Jody P. Person (Director)

Jody received his M.F.A. in Directing from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts. NY directing credits include: Writing Ground Zero (Dixon Place/The Raw Space), "Mixed Up Molly Eden" (Surf Reality), "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion" (Roger Hendrick Simon Studio), Bones and "The Existence of Being (or Am I Here?)" (TSI), and Radium (The Jewel Box Theatre). At Rutgers: for colored girls... by Ntozake Shange, Possible Worlds by John Mighton, Am I Blue by Beth Henley, Necropolis by Don Nigro, and In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks. Jody received a B.A. in Drama and Dance from SUNY Purchase, where he was given the Abbot Kaplan Award and Frank Wadsworth Prize for outstanding work, and he also studied Southeast Asian Dance at the National Taiwan University of the Arts. He has taught acting for youth at the Harlem Children's Zone (TRUCE) and is currently the Program Coordinator for Theater and Dance at Mercer County Community College.

 

Alex DeFazio (Playwright)

Alex's NY productions include: To Be Loved (FringeNYC 2007 and chashama; developed at Luna Stage), Radium, and two one-act plays, "Mountainlight" and "Can I Touch You," at the inaugural Fall Collection/Crown Point Festival. Prior to appearing in The Fall Collection, "Mountainlight" was also selected for the annual festival of original one-act plays at TADA! Youth Theater. Other NY productions: Writing Ground Zero (Dixon Place/The Raw Space), Christine (The Raw Space), and "Mixed Up Molly Eden" (Surf Reality). Alex's translation of Euripides' Medea has been taught at Lehigh University, and he was a semi-finalist for the One in Ten Screenplay Contest as well as a finalist for the Princess Grace Playwriting Award. He received a B.A. in English and Drama from SUNY Purchase and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University.

 

Faye Rosenbaum (Producer)

Faye comes to Elixir Productions from Classic Stage Company, where she was Assistant General Manager and Company Manager for CSC's productions of Richard II and A Spanish Play. She also served as the Line Producer for SPF's 2006 production of Gardening Leave and a Venue Director for FringeNYC 2006. Other producing credits include: Lamia's Dream by Bryan J. DiPietro (Adelaide International Fringe Festival, Australia) and Garroting by Ashlin Halfnight (The Bohican Theatre Company, Kraine Theatre). Prior to coming to New York, she performed in San Francisco as a hip hop dancer and consulted for Trajik Dancer Productions. She holds a B.A. in Politics from Pomona College and is pursuing an M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing at Columbia University.

 

Inga Meier (Dramaturg)

Inga Meier received her B.A. in English and Theatre Arts from Rutgers College and her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from SUNY Stony Brook. At Stony Brook she was the Assistant Dramaturg on Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters (dir. Deborah Mayo) and Dramaturg on Rebecca Gilman's Boy Gets Girl (dir. Lauren Rosen). Her conference papers include: "Beyond the Fear: The Relevance of Art and Theatre after September 11, 2001" (2005 SETC Theatre Conference); "George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House as a Template for Analyzing 9/11 Discourse in Theresa Rebeck's and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros' Omnium Gatherum" (2006 International "Sesquicentennial Shaw" Conference); and "Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon and its Adaptation of Georg Buechner's Woyzeck" (2006 MMLA Conference). She recently completed a new translation of Woyzeck.

Company Actors

 

Bobby Abid

New York critics have been quick to notice Bobby's "devastating good looks" (NY Times), but he is equally recognized for his talent as an off off Broadway performer. NY credits include: Forbidden Fruit (Best Actor, NYC Fresh Fruit Festival), Metronome, Eating Jain, Murder Play, and Elixir Productions' Radium and To Be Loved (Version 1). Bobby was a Mr. India NY winner and a video jockey for the NY-based cable channel ITV. His television credits include All My Children and Sex and the City.

 

Nick Chase

Nick is a NY-based writer and performer. His two-man show, Bros Before Hoes, co-written and performed with Roslyn Hart, has been featured at Upright Citizens Brigade, Pianos, and Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction. He is also a fiction writer and is currently at work on his first novel.

 

Michael Cortez

Michael is a native of Chicago, where he was active in theater, musicals, and film. Chicago credits include Tommy Djilas in The Music Man and Collaboraction Theater's Sketchbook Festival. New York: Franco in Goodnight Bobby. Goodnight John.; John Landis in Fifth of July; Robert Gilbey in Fanny's First Play; Charlie, the butler, in Trelawny of the Wells. Film: Lucky in Once Upon a Time in the Hood and Angel in On the Downlow (Winner: 2005 Best U.S.A. Narrative Award - NewFest - New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival). Michael received a degree from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York, and trained at ACTONE Studios in Chicago.

 

Josiah DeAndrea

Along with fellow Mercer County Community College graduate Michelle Wood, Josiah is one of Elixir's youngest members. At MCCC, he appeared as David in Love's Fire, Lamar in Godspell, Jesus in The Mysteries, and Andres in Woyzeck. Regionally, he performed in Nicky Silver's The Altruists to benefit the James Tolin Memorial Fund, an organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness. Josiah also co-founded and hosted the Parental Advisory Comedy Show at The Kelsey Theatre on the MCCC campus. He performs stand-up at the college's Late Night Series, and is currently attending Pace University's B.F.A. Acting Program.

 

Deena Jiles

Deena made her New York City debut with Elixir Productions in To Be Loved at FringeNYC. Originally from Columbus, Indiana, she has been performing non-stop since she arrived on the East Coast four years ago. At Mercer County Community College, she appeared in Woyzeck (as the Grandmother), Iphigenia in Aulis (Clytemnestra), Love's Fire (Esther), and Vietnam: Letters & Remembrances (Dusty). Deena also performs with The State Street Project, founded by Passage Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey. Some of their work includes If I Could in My Hood I Would and Fire Girls.

 

Liam Joynt

Liam comes to Elixir already having a prolific career in NY and regional theatre. Off Broadway: Metamorphoses (u/s, dir. Mary Zimmerman). Regional credits include: Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Chautauqua), Twelfth Night (Saratoga Shakespeare Company), The Nerd (Majestic), and Eric Bogosian's Pounding Nails in the Floor with My Forehead. Improv: The Magnet, UCB, The PIT. TV: Law and Order, Guiding Light. Film: Violet of a Thousand Colors (Best Film, Bogota Film Festival Nomination). Liam received an M.F.A. in Acting from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts and trained at the Chautauqua Theater Conservatory.

 

Erik A. Rojas

Erik brings the dance to Elixir Productions. He co-choreographed and danced in Woyzeck at The Kelsey Theatre, and his other credits include: Godspell (Dance Captain/Ensemble) for Mercer County Community College, Performer/Dancer for the Elixir Junior Company, and Stage Manager/Dancer for Sesame Place.

 

Jesse Soursourian

Jesse's NY roles include: Birmingham Speaker in Berlin/Birmingham, John/Baby in Cheeks (North American and English language Premier), Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, Peter in Aloha Say the Pretty Girls (East Coast Premier), Rex in Sad (Estrogenius Festival), and Clarke in The Iron Wig (Brick Theater's Hell Festival). Regionally, he was nominated for Best Actor by the Independent Reviewers of New England for his performance as Wayne Hudson in Popcorn (Zeitgeist Theater Company) and played Eugene Morris Jerome in Seacoast Repertory Theater's acclaimed revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Film: "Good Fight," "Evacuation Day," and "N***er." He received a B.A. with Honors in Theatre from Wesleyan University and plays keyboard for the band New York City Smoke.

 

Michelle Wood

Michelle's regional credits include: Nora in A Doll's House (ARTWORKS) and Estelle in RESPECT, Mayflowers in Eulogy for a Sleepwalker (reading), and Student/Teacher/Parent in If I Could in My Hood I Would (all at Passage Theatre). At Mercer County Community College, where she graduated from the Theatre Program: Ismene in Antigone, Rengin/Spencer in Love's Fire, Tiffany Edwards and various roles in The Laramie Project, Ruthie in Grapes of Wrath, and Peggy in Godspell. As Elixir's youngest member, she appeared in the FringeNYC production and Luna Stage reading of To Be Loved (as Anon).

Crew

 

Chris Ghaffoor (Lighting Design)

Chris is a student at Mercer County Community College, where he works with the MCCC Theatre and Dance Programs as well as local theatre groups at The Kelsey Theatre on the MCCC campus. Designs include: Breaking Legs (Like 40 Productions), Mercer Dance Ensemble's MDE-Unleashed, MouthWorks 2007, and The Late Night Series. As Assistant Lighting Designer: Woyzeck (MCCC Theatre Program) and Psycho Beach Party (for the James Tolin Memorial Fund).

 

Robert A. Terrano (Technical Director)

Robert is an Assistant Professor of Communications and Information Technology and coordinates the Entertainment Technology Program at Mercer County Community College. He started designing lights and sound in 1972 for a production of Man of La Mancha. Designs for the MCCC Theatre Program include: Woyzeck, Godspell, Working, Grapes of Wrath, Blinding Light, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, The Laramie Project, Love's Fire, The Glass Menagerie, and Of Mice and Men. Other shows include: To Be Loved (Version 2) for Elixir Productions, and Into the Woods, Once on This Island, Aladdin, and more than 55 other productions at various venues.

 

Mark Richard Caswell (Costume Design)

Mark worked on the film Awake and was an Assistant Stylist for What Not To Wear as well as Stacy London's fashion segments on The Today Show. He graduated from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.