CREW/CAST
Barri Tsavaris
Writer, Producer, Actress
Barri Tsavaris is a writer, director, producer and actress with a passion for creating comedy. She is the founder and President of Pennyfield Productions, a New York City based company that produces works for the stage as well as filmed pieces. Barri has studied improv comedy at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and Gotham City Improv in NYC and received a BS in Film/TV from Boston University.
Over the past 8 years, Barri has been a writer, producer and performer for many comedy groups in New York City, most notably the all-girl sketch group Pressing Charges, sketch group Outside Source, and the improv group How Bazaar.
Barri was the assistant director for Poop: A True Story, which placed 2nd for Audience Favorite Award in the New York International Fringe Festival. Barri’s first full-length play, I WILL FOLLOW, chronicles her true, 20-year search for the band U2, magic and religion. She returns to FringeNYC in August 2009 with I WILL FOLLOW, which she will also star in and produce.
This fall, Barri starts work on her next script entitled The Cabana, as well as her first screenplay entitled In The Event Of, about a woman who finds humor amidst the misery of divorce. Barri will continue to develop new sketch comedy material and tell funny stories at parties and bars.
Heather Gladis
Producer
Heather Gladis is thrilled to be working with the talented cast & crew of I WILL FOLLOW on her first Fringe Festival show. Heather is a producer, director, actor and singer originally from Northeastern Pennsylvania. As a producer/director Heather has staged several successful cabarets throughout New York City at venues like Don’t Tell Mama’s, Rose’s Turn and The Duplex. She has also music directed shows such as Little Shop of Horrors, Company, and Barnum.
As an actor/singer Heather has performed in numerous roles including Gussie (u/s) in Merrily We Roll Along (45th Street Theatre), Angel #2 in Anything Goes (The Theatre Company), and Ensemble in The Women (Heights Players). She has also appeared in several independent films. This fall, Heather will be producing and starring in a 2-woman cabaret in New York. In her spare time, Heather loves taking improv classes at UCB, enjoys traveling and discovering hidden NYC neighborhood gems.
Steve Wargo
Director
Steve Wargo is elated to join the I WILL FOLLOW team and to return to the NY Fringe Fest. He is a director, producer, writer, performer, native of Pittsburgh, PA, and a proud graduate of Syracuse Univeristy’s BFA Musical Theater program. From 2001-2008, he was the founding Artistic Director and Chair of Personal Space Theatrics (PST) in NYC. His PST directing credits include the American premieres of the Canadian comedies The Duchess... a.k.a. Wallis Simpson and Orchidelirium; the praised first NYC revival of David Ives’ Don Juan in Chicago, and his own hit adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” which has enjoyed five NY productions to date. Other NYC directing credits include the musical Air Guitar for the 2006 Fringe and All’s Well That Ends Well at the Manhattan Rep. As producer, projects have included the first NYC revival of a reworked BecauseHeCan by Arthur Kopit, World Premieres of Nicotine by Julien Schwab and the first American English translation of Murder by Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin and Myth America, an ensemble-written project featuring work by Kopit, Theresa Rebeck and Israel Horovitz. He is currently developing a new musical with a shockheaded band from London, among other projects about which he has to keep his trap shut. You can follow his theatrical escapades and musings on Twitter at twitter.com/wargodirects.
John Keabler
Actor
John hails from the land of bluegrass and bourbon. A recent graduate of The Old Globe Actors Training Program, John is in his first year as a New York City actor. He is a rookie member of the best darn theatre company in the city--Epic Theatre Ensemble (If you have not heard about what this company does for the Arts in NYC public schools, you must find out). John worked regionally many years for theaters such as Public Theatre of Kentucky, Kentucky Repertory, Horizon Theatre of Atlanta, Creede Repertory of Colorado, and The Old Globe. Since living in NYC he played Dr. Blye on All My Children, he performed Elliot Lowell in Henri Gabler (a modern tale based on Hedda Gabler) and he filmed two short films for the next directing sensation Heather Black. He is exuberant to work on his first Fringe show with such a talented and good-looking cast and crew. You may see John roaming the hallowed tunnels of the subway system singing and guitar picking--so say hello.
Melissa Center
Actress
Melissa is so thrilled to be a part of Team Bono! I WILL FOLLOW is Melissa's second consecutive show in the Fringe. Last year she appeared as Venus in the accoustic rock musical RU Prime. Other New York credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor (Ford; Native Aliens Collective), Macbeth (Witch; Roust Theatre Co), The Girl Most Likely To (Miriam; Native Aliens Collective), The Madness of Lady Bright (Girl; TOSOS II), Don Juan in Chicago (Zoey; Personal Space Theatrics) and A Christmas Carol (Catherine; PST). Additional credits include A Chorus Line (Maggie; Hawaii Tour), Riders to the Sea (Nora; The Artistic Home), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Veruca Salt; Emerald City Theater Co) to name a few...She is currently collaborating with mentor/director Wynn Handman on a one-woman show (a stage adaptation of the book The Giver) through his "Literature to Life" program. You can watch an ABC News segment on the program (Turning Kids into Bookworms) at 7online.com. She is also in the process of shooting a series of webisodes based on excerpts from real New Yorkers yearning to connect. Updates on the project will be posted on www.melissacenter.com soon. Proud Northwestern Grad. Thanks Steve, Barri and the rest of the team!
Jana Lancaster
Stage Manager
Stage Manager: The Eelwax Jesus Show(Eelwax Jesus), Freckleface Strawberry The Musical(Manhattan Movement and Arts Center), The Unbleached American(TRU), Trickle(EST), Stuff Happens(Phoenix Theatre; Indianapolis), Assistant Stage Manager: In Security(Unbound Collective), Henri Gabler (Exigent Theatre), Altar Boys(Phoenix Theatre; Indianapolis), Real Women Have Curves(NAU), and When Ya Comin' Back Red Ryder(NAU). She also worked as a House Manager for the Cookie Company Children's Theatre in Phoenix Arizona for the production of Totally Red!
Emily Peck
Production Assistant
Emily Peck is honored to join the wonderful team of I WILL FOLLOW and to be officially involved for the first time in the NY Fringe Festival. Emily is a graduate of Pace University where she received her BFA. She is an actress with aspirations for creating art on many levels. She enjoys directing, writing and being part of a creative collaborative group. Some of Emily’s favorite past performances include Andromoche in Trojan Women (Michael Schimmel Center), Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking, and Witch Doctor in Iboga both at Schaeberle Studio Theatre. She has also performed in multiple independent projects and films. Emily is currently taking classes and continuing her studies while workshopping a piece for fall production as a debut of her exciting new theatre company.
R. Allen Babcock
Scenic Designer
Allen is excited to join the I WILL FOLLOW team. He resides at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. As Resident Designer and Technical Director for Hotchkiss, he has production designed Guys & Dolls, On the Razzle, Runaways, The Laramie Project, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Urinetown!, and Into the Woods. When not grading design projects or teaching classes, he manages to find time to design in and around NYC! Regional: Hedwig & the Angry Inch (Syracuse Stage & North Star Productions, Rochester, NY) M. Butterfly [assistant to Dawn Chiang], (Syracuse Stage & Charlotte Repertory Theatre) NYC:Antigone&Hamlet (The Queen's Players) We All Fall Down (Pop Mega Hot Theatre Factory) Tartuffe, DamnéeManon, Sacrée Sandra, Largo Desolato (all as Resident Designer for Beyond the Wall Productions). Allen is a BFA Theatrical Design graduate of Syracuse University where he designed Street of Crocodiles (American Premier), tick, tick...BOOM!, Hurlyburly, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and many others. He is currently juggling way too many balls to count but would have it no other way!
Chris Rummel
Sound Design
Recent designs include #9 (Waterwell/59E59), Boy Girl Mind Rock Fun Love (Roundabout Theatre Co.), Stockton (Ensemble Studio Theater), Our Lady of South Division Street (Penguin Rep), Wood (NYMF’08), Big Love (Columbia University), The Real Thing, The Night of the Iguana (T. Schreiber Studio), Raised By Lesbians (NY Fringe), The Jack of Tarts (La Mama ETC), The Listener of Junk City (New Dramatists), Pied A Terre (Stageplays Theater Co.), The Girl Detective (Ateh), Two Rooms (Harold Clurman Festival), How I Learned To Drive (TSS, NYIT nominee), Belles (Heiress Productions) Angels In America (Stella Adler), tempOdyssey (SPF), Air Guitar (Fringe), Don Juan In Chicago (Personal Space Theatrics), and the short films The Waiting Room, and Pirates Vs. Ninjas (piratesversusninjas.com). Chris is a Teaching Artist at Roundabout Theatre Company, the resident sound designer for Personal Space Theatrics, a member of TheDrillingCompaNY, and an Artistic Associate at Stageplays Theater Company. BFA Syracuse University.
Jamie Roderick
Lighting/Projection Design
Lighting design credits include Chrysalis, Compubots, Crime Stoppers, Prescriptions (Strawberry Festival), Hip Hop Cabaret (Castillo Theatre, NYC), Candide Americana, I WILL FOLLOW, Galatea (Fringe Festival, NYC), Disillusioned (Midtown International Theatre Festival), Madagascar, Talking With (Aglet Theatre Co.), String of Pearls, The Women In Black, Joseph and the... (County Players), Hair, Rocky Horror (Castaway Players), Last Five Years, Rocky Horror, Fiddler On The Roof (Trinity Players), Footloose, Little Shop Of Horrors, Godspell (Admiral Players), The Patriot Act (assistant LD, Castillo Theatre NYC). Projection design credits include Last Five Years (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), I WILL FOLLOW (Fringe Festival, NYC), Madagascar (Aglet Theatre Co.), Les Miserables (Admiral Players). Visit jamieroderick.com for more information.
Jessa-Raye Court
Costume Design
New York: I WILL FOLLOW (Fringe), A New Brain (APAC), As You Like It (Reduxion), Alcestis (Producer’s Club), Estimated Time of Arrival (13th Night). Regional: Harvey, Nobody Don’t Like Yogi, Stones in His Pockets and Hansel & Gretel (Peterborough Players), Help Yourself, Tumor (Williamstown). Rutgers: Hard Heart, Big Love, Blind Date, Trifles, Ghost Trees, Stop Kiss. MFA: Rutgers (2010).
Barbara Serbes
Choreographer
Barbara is a dancer and choreographer based in New York City. You can catch her live performing with her latest creation...Buffalo Stance, A Tribute to the 80s, an ode to her favorite artists of that decade. She is also the Creative Director of her accessories company, Rock Your Religion.
