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Staff Profiles
Mark
Flei scher
(Producing Artistic Director) Metroland recently named Mark the
"Best Theatre Company Artistic Director" in its 2009 Best of the Capital
District issue. In addition he was selected as one of the "20 under 40"
by the Post-Star. Mark was appointed to the position
of ATF’s first Producing
Artistic Director in July of 2007 after a six month search process to
replace outgoing founders, Martha Banta and David Turner. Mark is
charged with the day-to-day operations of the company as well as
charting the theatre’s artistic vision. At ATF He directed this
season's ORDINARY DAYS by Adam Gwon and the reading of BRUSH THE SUMMER
BY.
Prior
to ATF Mark served as the managing artistic director of Plano Repertory Theatre
in suburban Dallas, Texas. During his eight year tenure, the company
moved from all volunteers to a professional theatre operating under an AEA SPT contract. Under Mark’s leadership, PRT emerged as one of the
leading theatre companies in the Dallas area with a subscription base of
nearly 4,000 subscribers and a budget of $750,000. PRT swept the 2000
and 2001 Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Awards including seven awards
for Mark’s production of Sunday
in the Park with George. At PRT Mark produced over 50
productions and his directing credits included new plays, classics,
musicals and contemporary dramas. Some of his favorite directing
projects at PRT include: A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and
The Tempest,
revivals of All My Sons, Not
About Nightingales, Talley’s Folly, and
The Diary of Anne Frank,
and the musicals My Favorite
Year, A Chorus Line, The Good Bye Girl, and
Passion.
Outside
of PRT his directing credits include Alex Lewin's
Water Street as part of
the Bailiwick Directors’ Fest and Stephen Cone's
We Came Here Because It Was
Beautiful and William Nedved's KID as part of Collaboraction’s Sketchbook as well as the regional premiere of
Bash by Neil
LaBute and BLACKBIRD at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, Texas and
The Homecoming at the
Granbury Opera House. Mark is an associate at Collaboraction Theatre Company
of Chicago.
Mark’s
interest in new play development has led him to direct numerous
readings, workshops and world premieres of both plays and musicals.
During graduate school, he interned in the literary offices of both The
Goodman Theatre and The Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Mark also
assisted Chuck Smith on the world premiere of José Rivera’s
Massacre
(sing to your children)
at the Goodman Theatre/Teatro Vista, and assisted Sandy Shinner on the
world premieres of both Claudia Allen’s adaptation of Stuart Dybeck’s
I Sailed with Magellan at
Victory Gardens Theatre and Joel Drake Johnson’s TRANQUILITY WOODS at
Steppenwolf Theatre.
In
addition to professional directing, Mark is committed to education, and
has taught students from kindergarten through college. His innovative
Make –A-Play program for Young audiences of Greater Dallas placed him in
area classrooms helping students write scripts based on their
classroom curriculum. Mark continues to work as an instructor and guest
director at colleges and universities. He has worked at Columbia
College, Santa Clara University, University of Texas at Dallas, Oakton
Community College, Collin County Community College and the University of
Michigan’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
Mark
holds a BA in English Literature and Communication Arts from Austin
College and an MFA in Directing from the Theatre School at DePaul
University, formerly The Goodman School of Drama.
Get the inside scoop on what's happening at ATF. Check
out Mark's ATF Blog!
Tracy E. Long (General
Manager) Tracy is thrilled to join ATF in 2009 as General Manager, in
which post she will handle all areas of company administration. A
varied background in theatre and business prepared her for this role.
Tracy worked in production and administration with companies such as
Tulsa Opera (Tulsa, OK), PlayMakers Repertory Company (Chapel Hill, NC),
Lincoln Amphitheatre (Evansville, IN), Madison Repertory Theatre
(Madison, WI), The Dallas Opera (Dallas, TX), and Historyonics Theatre
Company (St. Louis, MO), among others. In recent years, she has been
living in Denver and working for commercial real estate developers as an
office manager, bookkeeper and property manager.
Raised in Kansas, she now calls
Grovespring home, in the Ozarks of Missouri. Tracy also has close
family in Kansas City, KS and West Winfield, NY. In addition to her
passion for theatre, Tracy is fascinated by science and has been an
active community volunteer with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
and as a science fair judge for Denver Public Schools.
Tracy holds a BFA in Theatre Arts:
Stage Management from Webster University in St. Louis, and she is a
proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Brenny Rabine
(Artistic Associate and Teaching Artist) Brenny developed ATF’s
arts-in-education program, StageWrite, and delivers the program to area
schools in association with WSWHE BOCES New Visions Theatre Arts
program. Summers find Brenny leading acting and improv classes for ATF,
and last year for ATF she directed Suzan-Lori Parks’ national project
365 Days, 365 Plays. An accomplished actress, some of her favorite
roles include Lucia Pechenik in A SHAYNA MAIDEL, Rita in
EDUCATING RITA, and Belinda/Flavia in NOISES OFF! A performing
member of The Mop & Bucket Co., Brenny improvises around the Capital
Region, recently in a run at Proctor’s new Upstairs at 440 space. For
MopCo, Brenny has developed and taught arts-in-education programming in
Proctor’s Book Play program. Brenny is a member of the Dramatist Guild,
Inc. In addition to her popular murder mysteries, two of her plays,
CATCHING BABIES, and the children’s holiday musical, SANTA'S LIST,
have been produced widely. Brenny is a consultant trainer to many
businesses, bringing the techniques and practices of improv and theatre
to communication and leadership development.
Lisa Janssen (Teaching Artist)
Lisa, a New Jersey native, is excited to be entering her
fifth year with ATF. She continues her fourth year on ATF’s education
program, STAGEWRITE, in Glens Falls as well as the first year on an
Improv for Writing after school program in Warrensburg. She has her
Master’s in Education with a theatre background. Lisa has taught in a
classroom as well as tutoring and ‘wrangling’ child actors for Broadway
shows in NYC and on tour including ANNIE, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THE RADIO
CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, commercials, and the film Unfaithful.
Our Founders
ATF was founded in 1995 by a dedicated group of professional
theatre artists and Glens Falls/Lake George region citizens.
Martha
Banta (Founding
Artistic Director) Originally from Lake George, Martha served as ATF's Artistic Director
until 2007. At ATF she developed and directed several
new plays over 13 seasons: BEHAVE YOURSELF by Leslie Ayvazian, ALL IS NOT by Melissa James Gibson,
THE LAKES END by Anton Dudley, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING by Bill Bowers
(which has gone on to the Berkshire Theatre Festival and then The Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in NYC), THE DEAL by Ron Burch, TIMES OF
WAR by Eric Lane, BARBARA’S BLUE KITCHEN by Lori Fischer (which has gone
on to Cincinnati Playhouse and the Lambs Theater in Times Square NYC),
AT HOME IN AN ALIEN LAND by Tyrone Henderson. Other productions directed
at ATF include THE FAMILY BUSINESS by David and Ain Gordon, NOCTURNE by
Adam Rapp, WIT by Margaret Edson, ART by Yazmina Reza, and BOSTON
MARRIAGE by David Mamet, THE HARRY AND SAM DIALOGUES by Karen Ellison,
GUYS ON ICE by Fred Alley and James Kaplan. As Artistic Director Martha
also oversaw the development of FULLY COMMITTED by Becky Mode which
premiered at ATF in 1998 and went on to be produced Off-Broadway and
around the world. In addition to FULLY COMMITTED she oversaw MIMI LE
DUCK which went on to be produced off-Broadway and THE GIRL IN A FRAME
which went on to be produced at Goodspeed Theater in CT, as well as
MADAGASCAR which was co-produced with ATF at the Summer Play Festival in
NYC. New York directing credits include new plays at The Clark Theater
at Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, New Georges, Soho Rep,
Ensemble Studio Theater, Broken Watch Theater, One Dream, Westbank,
Orange Thoughts, New Dramatists, and the 52nd Street Project. Previously
she was an Artistic Associate for New York Theater Workshop 1990-1995
and on the production staff of New York City Opera. Regionally she most
recently directed THIS WONDERFUL LIFE by Steve Murray at Cincinnati
Playhouse, and Portland Center Stage in Oregon. Other Regional theater
directing includes productions at Portland Stage (Me), Berkshire Theater
Festival, Merrimack Repertory, and Capital Repertory. Martha has also
directed BLUE WINDOW by Craig Lucas at The Julliard School, ANGELS IN
AMERICA by Tony Kushner at SUNY Stonybrook, and been a guest lecturer at
Vassar College. Commercial theater directing includes the first foreign
language productions of RENT in Japan and Germany and the current
children’s show PLAYHOUSE DISNEY LIVE at Disney’s MGM Studios in
Florida. Martha is currently the Resident Director for MAMMA MIA! on
Broadway and the National Tour.
David Turner (Founding Producing Director) has worked in all areas of
theatre production and management for the New York Shakespeare Festival,
Circle Repertory Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Spoleto Festival USA
and the National Playwrights Conference. He has served in management for
the Broadway productions of A CHORUS LINE, OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD, A SMALL
FAMILY BUSINESS, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, SHOW BOAT, and BARRYMORE and
Off-Broadway including NUNSENSE, THE DESTINY OF ME, SYLVIA, and VISITING
MR. GREEN. He was a General Manager of the New York, Boston, and
Chicago productions of I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE, and was
an Associate Producer of the New York production of FULLY COMMITTED
which originated at ATF in 1998. In 2000 and 2001 he was the interim
Executive Director of the Woolworth Theater Project during which he
oversaw the raising of over $2 million towards that Capital Campaign in
Glens Falls. Besides his work on ATF, he is currently working on his
own projects in New York City.
Gilles Chiasson
In the
theatre, Gilles Chiasson has been seen in the Original Broadway Casts
of Baz Luhrmann’s LA BOHEME, THE CIVIL WAR as Bill (Outer Critics Circle
Nomination), THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL as Armand St. Just, and RENT as
Steve, Others... He performed in the national tours of LES MISERABLES
as Marius and FOREVER PLAID as Jinx. Off Broadway, Gilles has been seen
in the World Premieres of GROUNDHOG at Manhattan Theatre Club, FERMAT’S
LAST TANGO at the York Theatre, and received an Obie Award for his work
in the original production of RENT at the New York Theatre Workshop. In
addition, Gilles has performed at regional theatres across the country
including the Goodspeed Opera House, the Alley Theatre in Houston, the
Cherry County Playhouse, the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Theatre
Virginia, the Weston Playhouse, and Music Theatre of Wichita. As a
writer, Gilles wrote the book, music and lyrics of the musical play,
chrysalis, and conceived the living newspaper revue, FISHWRAP,
collaborating with fourteen other songwriters on the book, music, lyrics
and arrangements. His musicals have been developed at the New York
Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Alley Theatre in Houston,
TX, and the Pasadena Playhouse. Working with Nashville songwriter,
Chris Roberts, their song, “Hands Holding Hands”, received radio play
across the country and was selected for BRAVE NEW WORLD, American
Theatre Responds to 9/11, at Town Hall in New York City. Their
song, “Sweet Mystery”, is featured on IN GOOD COMPANY, (LML Records).
Gilles is currently working as Director of Development at Moresco
Productions with Writer/Director Bobby Moresco in Los Angeles. Moresco
Productions has a number of feature films in development, as well the
television show The Black Donnellys, scheduled to air on NBC in
March of 2007.
Matt Frey
(Lighting Designer) designed Melissa James
Gibson’s “All Is Not”. He designed
Bomb-itty of Errors, The Deal, and Boston Marriage among others at the Adirondack Theatre Festival and is a
founding member as well. Recent work includes “To The Lighthouse”
at Berkeley Rep, David Lang’s “The Difficulty of Crossing a Feild”
with Ridge Theater and Steve Reich and Beryl Korot’s “The Cave”
at the Barbican, London and Lincoln Center. Upcoming projects include
Bach’s “Saint John Passion” with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
and “Frau Margot” with Forth Worth Opera. Matt’s work has been
seen at Brooklyn Academy of Music, New Group, Playwright’s Horizons,
Manhattan Class Company. New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theater,
Theatre For A New Audience, Corn Exchange (Dublin) and regional theaters
around the US and theaters abroad.
Kate Broderick
was most
recently the Production Stage Manager for the workshop of the Broadway
bound musical XANADU. Other credits include Production Supervisor for
HOUSE and GARDEN at Manhattan Theatre Club, Production Stage Manager for
David Lindsay-Abaire’s WONDER OF THE WORLD also at MTC. Kate was also
PSM for the original Off Broadway productions of THE BOMB-ITTY OF
ERRORS, Claudia Shear’s BLOWN SIDEWAYS THROUGH LIFE, BUNNY BUNNY, and
Doug Wright’s QUILLS. Kate was a founding member of the Adirondack
Theatre Festival and served as the Associate Producer and Box Office
Manager for its first three years. She continues to sit on the Board of
Directors. Kate lives in Brooklyn with her husband Michael Haigney and
her two children, Jack and Maggie.
David King
currently serves as the Treasurer of ATF's Board
of Directors. He earned a BA degree from
Hobart College and an MBA degree from Clarkson University. He is the owner and president of Lake George RV Park, Inc., a family camping
resort in Queensbury, NY, where ATF staged its first season in the
resort’s performing arts space, the French Mountain Playhouse. A
dedicated advocate of theater arts and tourism, David was one of the
original founders of ATF. He continues to serve as community liaison for
the organization representing the interests of ATF on several other
non-for-profit boards in the region. He praises the nine additional
members of the board for their commitment and passion to making ATF the
region’s premier professional performing arts institution.
The Festival was founded in 1994-1995 by the following individuals. Some
are busy pursuing careers and lives which span the globe from Germany to
California, and while their involvement in the Festival varies, they all
remain crucial to the founding of this organization: |
