Rebel Playhouse is pleased to present the World Premiere of THE FANTASTICAL DANGEROUS JOURNEY OF Q, a new musical for young audiences with a book by Ric Averill and music by Dax Dupuy. The production will be Directed and Choreographed by Rebel Playhouse Artistic Director Sarah Sutliff, Musically Directed by Christina Bottley, and featuring Puppet Design by Rosa Douglas. Following a workshop at The Lawrence Art Center in August-September 2018, THE FANTASTICAL DANGEROUS JOURNEY OF Q will make its World Premiere at The Theater at the 14th Street Y in December 2018.
THE FANTASTICAL DANGEROUS JOURNEY OF Q is the story of Q, an upper elementary student struggling with gender and identity issues, who faces the daily difficulties of preoccupied parents, bullying peers, and communication with challenging teachers... but with a bag of tricks shared by Q's neighbor Nix, everyday objects grow and are endowed with powers that allow Q to face larger than life threats head on! This new hour long musical features song, dance, and puppetry.
Cast & Crew
Christina Bottley (Music Director) is a singer, actor, pianist, accordionist, music director, voice and piano teacher. She has been performing professionally for over 10 years and is a graduate of the Atlantic Acting School (NYC) and a certified Steinway Teacher & Educational Partner. Christina has been seen performing in various showcases and workshop productions in NYC, NBC events at 30 Rock, Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Lines, Universal Studios, and various major convention and corporate events. Along with her passion for performing, Christina loves to teach and inspire others when it comes to the arts. She has been teaching voice and piano for over 15 years, as well as audition workshops and master classes. Christina is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, and resides in New York City with her husband Franco and their sweet pup Bentley. www.christinabottley.com
Dax Dupuy (Music & Additional Lyrics) is a Brooklyn-based composer/lyricist. She has written numerous musicals and incidental scores for professional theatres throughout the country, including Barter Theatre, Greenville Little Theatre, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Omaha Theatre Company and Duke City Repertory Theatre. Her musical Frosty has completed three winter national tours in collaboration with TheatreWorks USA, and her show Twas The Night Before Christmas will tour with them in the winter of 2017. TheatreWorks has also commissioned her to write music and lyrics for the new musical adaptation of the best-selling children's book series Clementine, which will tour throughout the country in 2018-2019. www.daxdupuy.com
Clara Kundin (Producer & Press Agent) is an actor, singer, and teaching artist. She received her B.A. in theater from St. Olaf College and continued her studies in physical theater at the École Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Since co-founding Rebel Playhouse, she has produced all of their shows, including the NY Innovative Theatre Award Nominee, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. Her shows have been featured in the New York Times, Time Out Magazine, and more. She previously served as the associate education director and company member for The Ume Group and was a company member with the Galli Theater. As an actor, she has performed with Metropolitan Playhouse, Creative Time, Torn Out Theater, the GYM at Judson, the Guthrie Theater, and many more. She has led workshops and talks at Hamilton College, Hunter College, St. Olaf College, Mainstages, Woodlawn Conservancy, and Sanctuary for Families, among others. Learn more at www.clarakundin.com
Mak Morin (Dramaturg & Script Consultant) is a native Vermonter and 2016 graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where they studied Dramatic Writing and Educational Theatre. Since graduating, they have worked for screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson, Archer Gray Productions, Double Take Comics, and Nickelodeon. Currently, Mak is serving as a Teaching Artist Resident at VOYAGES Prep high school in Queens as a part of AmeriCorps' ArtistYear of National Service. In September, they will return to NYU to study Drama Therapy as a graduate student. And as a queer writer and activist, Mak is thrilled to consult on the script for "Q" and can't wait for the world, especially young LGBTQ people, to see it!
Ric Averill (playwright) is a freelance director, playwright, screenwriter, actor, composer, music director, keyboard player and conductor. He retired as artistic director, emeritus, of the Lawrence Arts Center, the organization that supported his artistic life for 16 years and allowed him to tour the country (37 states with his Seem-To-Be Players) and produce professional and educational theatre (including the award-winning Summer Youth Theatre program, which he co-founded with actress wife, Jeanne.) Averill has been commissioned by the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., First Stage Milwaukee and San Diego State University’s Theater of the World Festival to write plays and operas. The body of his work may be found at Dramatic Publishing. Averill’s most recent work, Midnight Visit to the Grave of Poe: A Grotesque Arabesque, an opera with modern dance, rock instrumentation and digital scenery, premiered at the Lawrence Arts Center in October 2015. Most recently, he has been awarded the 2018 Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award.
Sarah Sutliff (director) is a Brooklyn based actress, director, and teaching artist. A graduate of Wagner College, Sarah additionally studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Atlantic Acting School. In New York City she previously worked as a performer and teaching artist with Galli Theater NY, The Once Upon a Time Players, The Murder Mystery Co., and How We GLOW with the Identity Theatre Co. She directed and choreographed the NYC premiere of Old Turtle and the Broken Truth with Rebel Playhouse, for which she was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award in Choreography, as well as the world premiere of Edna The Stomper at the Chicago Fringe Festival which was recognized as the top selling children's production. Sarah has directed/choreographed for Saratoga Children's Theatre in Saratoga Springs, NY for 6 summer seasons, and Shen Summer Adventure Theatre Program in Clifton Park, NY for 2 summer seasons. Theatre credits: Centipede in James and the Giant Peach (Atlantic Theater Company), Edwin M. Pauley in Convention (The Atlantic Acting School), Gena in Bachelorette (The Drama League), multiple roles in Juliana (The Duplex), Alonso in The Tempest (Torn Out Theater). Film: Samantha in Bruises (short) and Karen in Into the Valli (feature). Sarah is a founding member, standing board member, and current Artistic Director of Rebel Playhouse. www.sarahsutliff.com
Jo/Josie Cohen (lighting designer) is a Pittsburgh native who has been involved in theater for most of their life. After first getting involved while at Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 as a member of the Production Technology department, they attended Lafayette College, graduating with a B.A. in English and Theater in 2018. While there, they worked as an electrician and light board operator for shows such as I Hate Hamlet, Tartuffe, and the Merchant of Venice, and as the lighting designer for X-Mas Karol and the Importance of Being Earnest.
Torian Brackett (Leon) is excited to be joining the brilliant cast of The Fantastical Dangerous Journey of Q! NY: Bright and Brave, Ybor City, Me Prometheus, Rootless, Giovanni the Fearless, I Love You and I Want You to be My Bird, Fannie Lou: The Musical, Speakeasy. Regional: Nantucket! The MusACKal (Ens), The Fantasticks (Matt), Urinetown (Hot Blades Harry), Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party (Max). www.TorianBrackett.com
Bryan S Walton (Pencil) is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College class of 2017. Off Broadway: It Came From Beyond (Steve), Frankenstein (Henry). New York Theatre: Loves Labours Lost the Musical (Longaville), The Hidden Ones (Father 1 Alternate/Male Swing). Bryan also works as an actor/writer for Waking Visions Productions.
Jasmin Malave (Lacie) is thrilled to play Lacie in The Fantastical Dangerous Journey of Q, her first show with Rebel Playhouse! Her artistic pursuits range from regional theatre to an off Broadway musical, and include performing, tech, costuming, and choreography for 50+ shows. Trained at the Atlantic Acting School, she is an active company member of The Toy Museum children's theatre and the Village Playback Theatre Company, an arts as therapy outreach organization. www.JasminMalave.com
Jacqueline Salvador (Mawm) is so excited to be a part of this wonderful show with Rebel Playhouse. You may have seen her recently as Spider in Atlantic Theater's production of James and the Giant Peach, which was her first show in New York City. Back in her home state of Virginia, she played roles such as Carla in In The Heights, Bonnie in Anything Goes, and Consuelo in West Side Story. She also had the pleasure of originating the role of The Stepmother in Cinderella, A New Musical. She studied Vocal Performance at George Mason University and while there she performed in a few operas such as Gianni Schicchi and Street Scene. Big thank you to her mom, dad and bro for their constant support and love!
Milo Longenecker (Q) is a trans-genre theatre artist specializing in music/sound, experimental movement, and embodying impulse & identity. They are co-founder of Sacred Circle Theatre Company, a queer/feminist community challenging theatrical traditions since 2016. Favorite roles include Sweet in Sandwich Program at The Public Theater, Buck in Skin Flick City at Columbia University, and Art in the new play Suck+Blow currently in development at SCTC.
Liza Couser (Ms. Sharp) is an actor, director, and singer based in NYC. Selected credits include The Feather Doesn’t Fall Far From the Wing (Signature Theater New Plays Festival), Steel Magnolias (Playhouse on Park), The Secret Garden (New London Barn Playhouse), and Mamma Mia! (Northern Stage). This summer, Liza was assistant director/producer for New York Times Critic’s Pick Red Emma and The Mad Monk (The Tank). She hails from Madison, Wisconsin and is a graduate of Dartmouth College. lizacouser.com
Adelaide/ Matthew Dicken (Nix) is a non-binary trans femme Pisces theatre artist and organizer living in a collective home in Flatbush, Brooklyn. She loves writing, witches & water and spends most of her time thinking about moving resources towards arts equity, prison abolition, transformative justice & the solidarity economy. They're also called Matthew Dicken, and under that name, they received an award for Overall Excellence in Solo Performance at the NY International Fringe Festival in 2015. With her collaborator Meliça McIntyre, she was recently awarded Culture Push's Fellowship for Utopian Practice to gather communities fighting for trans justice and disability justice in participatory problem-solving events towards the longer-term vision of creating a worker-owned, sustainable gym accessible to all bodies and centering people with disabilities and trans people. Feel free to email matthewedicken@gmail.com to weave efforts together <3