PERFORMERS
c-Live Band of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
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Jeff Peretz
Musical Director
Jeff Peretz is an Assistant Arts Professor, the Musical Director and coordinator of Songwriting at The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. He is also a multi-instrumentalist/producer and has written music for television, film and stage. He has recorded and/or performed with everyone from Mark Ronson and Lana Del Rey to Stanley Clarke and Omar Hakim. His books include Zen and the Art of Guitar, Guitar Atlas: Cuba, and Guitar Atlas: The Middle East, and he recently contributed the musical analysis to the NYTimes best seller: Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm. As “America’s Pop Musicologist,” Jeff has appeared on CNN, NPR, Bloomberg TV, and MSNBC and in print for The Fader, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone magazine as an expert in music theory and music copyright. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Third Street Music Settlement School in lower Manhattan and a member of the Les Paul Advisory Council.
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Remi Baker
Keyboards/Vocals
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Arthur Caplan
Drums
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Lee-Alexander Carter
Vocals
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Joe Cho
Guitar
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Noor Hila
Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
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Ava Leslie
Vocals
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Trenton Michael
Vocals
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Leilani Patao
Bass
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Mike Pena
Keyboards
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Akira Sky
Vocals
An Excerpt from Many Happy Returns, a Dance Version of a Memory Play (Monica Bill Barnes & Co.)
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Monica Bill Barnes ’97
Creator and Performer
Monica Bill Barnes (Artistic Director of MBB&CO/performer) is a dancer and choreographer. Since MBB&CO’s founding in 1997, her choreography has been seen in many places, such as New York City’s Bowling Green public fountain, on stage at Carnegie Hall, throughout the galleries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and in Greta Gerwig’s film "Little Women." Recent collaborations include a national tour of The Running Show; a site specific show in a mall - Days Go By; two online works created during the pandemic - "Keep Moving" and "It’s 3:07 Again," "Many Happy Returns; a dance version of a memory play" that just had a Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons January 2025 and an upcoming new site specific work at New York Public Library’s Main Branch in May 2025. Barnes is also a NYU alumni and honored to be here tonight.
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Robbie Saenz de Viteri
Creator
Robbie Saenz de Viteri (Artistic Director of MBB&CO/writer/performer) writes, creates, produces, and performs live theater. He has created performances and toured production throughout the world with the Obie Award winning Nature Theater of Oklahoma and worked with genre redefining artists such as Anna Deavere Smith, Stew, and Ira Glass. He has collaborated with Monica Bill Barnes to create "Happy Hour," "The Museum Workout," "One Night Only" (Lilly Award), "Days Go By" (Bessie Honoree), "The Running Show," "Keep Moving," "It’s 3:07 Again," and "Many Happy Returns." He grew up in New Jersey, holds a BA from Muhlenberg College, where he studied writing with David Rosenwasser, and lives in Greenpoint Brooklyn, which he believes is best reached by bicycle.
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Flannery Gregg
Performer
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Mykel Marai Nairne
Performer
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Indah Mariana ’14
Performer
"Coming True" from Amateurs
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Trenton Michael
Vocals
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Akira Sky
Vocals
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Joe Cho
Guitar
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Leilani Patao
Bass
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Arthur Caplan
Drums
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Mike Pena
Keyboards
Stand By Me Performed by NYU Tisch Graduate Acting students, c-Live Band, and N'Harmonics
Like what you've seen tonight? Support scholarships for our Graduate Acting students.
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Deborah Lapidus
Director
Currently and happily teaching singing (as she has for many years) in the Graduate Acting Department. Most recently she was the singing coach on Cult of Love on Broadway. Other credits include musical advisor for A Party With Comden and Greene (the Cafe Carlyle), singing coach on Fat Ham (Broadway, Public Theatre) and Harry Clarke with Tisch alum Billy Crudup (Vineyard Theatre, Minetta Lane, Berkeley Rep, and upcoming at Ambassador’s Theatre, London). On Broadway: singing coach for Cicely Tyson on Trip to Bountiful and Jane Fonda on 33 Variations. Off Broadway: Joan of Arc (Public Theatre). Also coached alum Daniel Dae Kim for his performance as the King in King and I as well as his recent performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Film coaching: (on set) Happythankyoumore please directed by Tisch alum Josh Radnor, Evening (coach to Claire Danes), The Girl in the Park (Sigourney Weaver) and pre-production on Eyes of Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain). Other teaching: Juilliard, Master Classes at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (London), Victoria School of the Arts (Melbourne). Proud recipient of the David Payne Carter Award for excellence in teaching.
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Lawrence Yurman
Musical Director
Lawrence Yurman is a pianist, arranger and conductor with 35+ years of experience on Broadway and beyond. He was most recently the Music Director/Arranger and Conductor of the new Hoagy Carmichael musical Stardust Road at the York Theatre. On Broadway, he was the music director of the musical War Paint starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, as well as the musical director and arranger of the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Harry Connick, Jr. Larry also provided similar contributions to the Broadway production of It Shoulda Been You. Additional Broadway music directing and/or conducting credits include Grey Gardens, Side Show (1998 orig. prod.), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Guys And Dolls (1992 revival), Les Miserables (orig. prod.), Marie Christine, Arcadia (Lincoln Center Theatre), and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He was the onstage pianist for the most recent revival of The Iceman Cometh starring Denzel Washington. He has also played and collaborated extensively with Lea Salonga and Christine Ebersole in NYC, across the country and abroad. Larry has been associated with NYU’s Graduate Acting Program as an accompanist and musical director since 1983.
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Julian Alam
Graduate Acting Performer
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Jared Alexander
Graduate Acting Performer
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Wayne Bennett, Jr.
Graduate Acting Performer
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Kendall Cafaro
Graduate Acting Performer
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Orlando Grant
Graduate Acting Performer
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Takalay Hamill
Graduate Acting Performer
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Asha Houston
Graduate Acting Performer
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Kendra Jain
Graduate Acting Performer
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Denise Kolodja
Graduate Acting Performer
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Amara Leonard
Graduate Acting Performer
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Amarih Mathews
Graduate Acting Performer
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Kene Ortiz
Graduate Acting Performer
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Gus Reale
Graduate Acting Performer
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Bianca Rogoff
Graduate Acting Performer
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Michael Tran
Graduate Acting Performer
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Lavender Ashley
N'Harmonics
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Summer Armstrong
N'Harmonics
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Remi Baker
N'Harmonics
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Julian Harper Galkin
N'Harmonics
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Connor Greenwell
N'Harmonics
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Noor Hila
N'Harmonics
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Chase Junchaya
N'Harmonics
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Orly Kinsella
N'Harmonics
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Ava Leslie
N'Harmonics
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CJ Martinez
N'Harmonics
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Maya Monteleone
N'Harmonics
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Christinamarie Nelson
N'Harmonics
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Nina Osso
N'Harmonics
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Sanders Pitts
N'Harmonics
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Sahana Saravanan
N'Harmonics
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Sunidhi Srinivas
N'Harmonics
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Aadit Vinayak
N'Harmonics
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Tris Yun
N'Harmonics
A Different Kind of World (film) performed by NYU Tisch Dance students
Music by alumnus Maggie Rogers. Used with permission.
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Louise Coleman
Performer
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Remy Corbin
Performer
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Annika Davison
Performer
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Mika Eppstein
Performer
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Celeste Goldes
Performer
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Brooke Judge
Performer
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Emilia Pace
Performer
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Cheryl Yeh
Performer
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Ava Leslie
Vocals
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Noor Hila
Acoustic Guitar
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Arthur Caplan
Drums
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Joe Cho
Guitar
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Leilani Patao
Bass
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Mike Pena
Keyboards
After Party
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DJ TRx
Tina Romero ’15
CREATIVE TEAM
SAM SCALAMONI, DIRECTOR
Sam Scalamoni is thrilled to return to this wonderful event and continue his collaboration with Dean Green and the team! Sam is the director of the critically acclaimed national tours of Elf the Musical which has had 15 companies that toured the US since 2012, playing The Theatre at Madison Square Garden and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He directed the world premiere of the award winning musical, A Thousand Faces at the Encore Musical Theatre, based on the life of film legend Lon Chaney. Sam developed and directed the world premier US national tour of the new musical, Noel, with book by best-selling author of the Artemis Fowl book series, Eoin Colfer. Sam is currently developing a new musical, Unbelievable, about American baseball legend Jackie Mitchell and a miniseries based on the same story titled JACKIE, baseballs forgotten legend. Sam directed and collaborated with Alan Menken on two workshops of the Broadway musical, Leap of Faith, he co-created and directed the developmental workshop of Mulan Jr. for Disney Theatrical Group and Music Theater International, and directed a workshop presentation of Sense and Sensibility at Playwrights Horizons. Sam has a long relationship with the classic musical Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, having served as Associate Director for Disney Theatrical Group since 2001. He has supervised the show on Broadway and mounted multiple companies globally. Sam is also a founding member and serves as Artistic Director of Skyline Theatre Company in New Jersey.
ANDY YANNI '08, SCENIC & DECOR DESIGNER
Andy is an alumnus of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts as well as co-owner and principal designer of CityFolk — a NYC-based design studio — alongside his co-owners and partners Meghan Gaber and Katie Rosenblatt. With experience in interior, architectural, theatre, and furniture design, and immersive experiences, and with a hands-on skill set in residential and theatrical construction and project management, Andy is really just a maker with a love for story-telling. He previously worked on Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as a theatre designer, having designed and built scenery for over 20 years in venues throughout NYC. He has also served as a stagehand on past Broadway shows including, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Finding Neverland, Les Miserables, and Gigi. Andy is a two-time New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominee in Set Design in 2012 and 2013. B.F.A. in Theatre with a focus in Scenic Design from Tisch School of the Arts Department of Drama. Much love to his incredibly colorful partner in crime and wife, Meghan and our incredible little boy, Felix.
BRIAN NASON '86 , LIGHTING DESIGNER
Broadway: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Chita Rivera); Thurgood (Laurence Fishburne); On Golden Pond (James Earl Jones); Fortunes Fool (Alan Bates, Frank Langella); Arthur Millerʼs Broken Glass (World Premiere); 1776 Dir. Scott Ellis; Helen Mirren’s A Month in the Country (OCCNom.); Taller Than a Dwarf (Matthew Broderick); Threepenny Opera (Sting); Metamorphosis with Mikhail Baryshnikov (Tony Nom.). Special Events: 11 DVD’s and 7 National Tours for Tyler Perry’s Madea; Great Performances “Spirituals” Live From Carnegie Hall (PBS); American Playhouse Presents “O Pioneers” (PBS). Film: Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls (TPS); Sing Produced by Neil Meron/Craig Zadan (Tri- Star). Tours: Noel The Musical; The Big Apple Circus; West Side Story; The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber; M. Butterfly. Off Broadway: More than 80 productions, 29 at Irish Repertory Theater, including the critically acclaimed The Emperor Jones. Opera: Dead Man Walking (Teatro Real, Madrid, NYCO); Jake Heggie’s It’s A Wonderful Life (San Francisco Opera, HGO); Cruzar La Cara de la Luna (Teatro Sucre, Ecuador); West Side Story (Teatro La Scala, Milan). Nominations: Tony Award, 2 OCC’s, 3 Audelco’s, Barrymore (won), Opera OnLine (won). Education: M.F.A. at NYU Tisch School of the Arts; Lighting Design Assistant to Lighting Designer Tharon Musser; Broadway.
JEFFREY M. MARKOWITZ, PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Jeffrey M. Markowitz is pleased to have contributed to more than a decade of Tisch Galas and has led projects such as Tribeca Festival, Radio City Christmas, Clinton Global Initiative, Stars on Ice, Phish New Years' Eve Shows, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; he has also served as producer or general manager for Cirque Eloize: Rain, Lord of the Rings in Concert, Lang Lang –The Disney Book, Monet’s Immersive Garden for CAMI, currently supervising upcoming off-Broadway play Scarlett Dreams; as show caller for the Pan American Games in Rio 2007 and Toronto 2015, Rio 2016 and Istanbul 2020 Olympic bids, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and as stage manager on Broadway/Tour including Urban Cowboy, A Class Act, Annie, Blood Brothers, Annie 2, and Harrigan & Hart; on television Annie Live, Sound of Music Live, and The Wiz Live for NBC, the Tony Awards, Grammy Awards, VMA’s, Kennedy Center Honors, America’s Got Talent, 12-12-12 Concert, Fashion Rocks, NHL Stadium Series, 9/11 Memorial Service, and Live from Lincoln Center. Other credits include 50 operas and countless industrial shows, as well as his proudest credit as father to Kyla, and doggy Dad to Beto.
DAVID MOROCHO, CONTENT/VIDEO DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
As Creative Director of DTDG Creative, David is a communications and event marketing specialist who for the better part of 25 years, has been producing and driving creative content direction for small to large events. He has partnered with many clients to create visually compelling solutions that support and enhance their mission and brands worldwide. His video, print, and graphic design work have been featured at events spanning many industries and regions ranging from tech conferences in Bangalore, Brazil, and Istanbul, to intimate luxury brand launches and reveals at the Louvre in Paris, to yearly financial shareholder events at the Metropolitan Opera, and Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC. David received his creative training at Yale School of Fine Arts where he earned a B.A. in Fine Arts and Architecture. Before engaging his creative skills in the business of events, David also trained at the NY Film Academy and even explored acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. When not busy cooking up creative for a conference, David likes to enjoy long walks in New York City, reading a good book, traveling to new exotic destinations, and spending a fun evening dancing salsa with his wife.
PAUL BEVIN, SOUND DESIGNER/ENGINEER
Emmy-winning engineer, Paul Bevan, is one of New York’s most in-demand sound designers and engineers, working on a wide variety of major special event, corporate, orchestral, and music projects. Born in the UK, Paul was the House Sound Engineer at the legendary Marquee Club in London, before moving to the USA. He has mixed Prince, Ray Charles, Fleetwood Mac, Ed Sheeran, Yo Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Joshua Bell, the Boston Pops and countless others, and is especially known for his work in the tasteful amplification of orchestras.
JENNIFER RUFF, DIFFERENT KIND OF WORLD VIDEO PRODUCTION
Jennifer Ruff is filmmaker and artist based in Brooklyn. She has worked on numerous award winning films, including Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy, Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mama Tambien, Kim Pierce's Boy's Don't Cry, and Lisa Cholodenko's High Art. She recently edited Lyle, an award winning feature starring Gaby Hoffman; The Color of Time a film made with numerous directors and James Franco; and Glass Chin, starring Billy Crudup and Corey Stoll. She is currently editing A Woman, A Part directed by Elizabeth Subrin, produced by Scott Macaulay. Jennifer also exhibits her video art and collages in galleries in NY, LA, Tokyo and London. She has been a professor at NYU’s prestigious Tisch Graduate School of Film since 2001.
ALLYSON GREEN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
DEAN, NYU TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS