Christopher Lowell, Brittany Bradford and More Set for New York Stage and Film 2025 Summer Season

New York Stage and Film has revealed the cast members for its 40th Anniversary Summer Season at Marist University, kicking off today in Poughkeepsie, NY.
 
Casting for the Summer Season includes Barzin Akhavan, Kirstyn C. Ballard, Chris Bannow, Maggie Bofill, Danny Bolero, Jason Bowen, Brittany Bradford, Juan Castano, Cindy Cheung, Rheaume Crenshaw, Maya Days, Craig Wesley Divino, Carla Duren, Edie Falco, Mia Gerachis, Toney Goins, Darren Goldstein, Amara Granderson, Zach Grenier, Matthew Griffin, Anthony Irons, Daniel K. Isaac, Bianca LaVerne Jones, Aidan Joyce, Daniil Krimer, Jessica Love, Christopher Lowell, Florencia Lozano, Jason Maina, Sunita Mani, Daniel Marconi, Jeanine Mason, Barrie Lobo McLain, Jennifer Mogbock, Sandra Okuboyejo, Genesis Oliver, Aramie Payton, Portia, Christina Pumariega, Brian Quijada, Armando Riesco, Nygel D. Robinson, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Laurissa Romain, Angela Sarafyan, Adriana Scalice, Ariella Serur, David Shih, Julyana Soelistyo, Chris Thorn, Jude Tibeau, Richard Topol, Shannon Tyo, Donna Vivino, Tyqaun M. White and Mitchell Winter, with more names to be announced.
 
In an ongoing collaboration with Marist University, SAF allows artists to create and develop new stories in an academic environment which fosters freedom of expression and natural exchanges of ideas. Together, SAF and Marist are bridging academic communities with professional artists in residency programs, and collaborations with the University’s Fashion, English, and Music Departments.
 
All performances will be held at Marist University’s Poughkeepsie campus. Season packages and individual tickets for all performances are now on sale. Special events will include Bar ’85 and a panel discussion with members of The Woods.
 
The New York Stage and Film 2025 Summer Season is as follows:
 

VIDAS PRIVADAS

Inspired by Private Lives by Noël Coward
Written by Christina Pumariega
Directed by Eddie Torres
Presentation: Friday July 11, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Cesar and Celia are top campaign managers on opposite sides of the partisan divide. They also used to be married. They also just rocked up to Ibiza to honeymoon with their new spouses... Coward wrote it, but Cubans explode it--rocketing from old world to the new, from the ballot box to the bedroom in a no-holds barred immigrant debate that's smart, sexy and f*cking uproarious. 
 
The cast of Vidas Privadas will feature Maggie Bofill (Laughs in Spanish), Craig Wesley Divino (London Assurance), Daniil Krimer (Really Really), Christina Pumariega (¡VOS!), and Armando Riesco (Deep Blue Sound).
  

THE TEETEE & LALA SHOW

Written & Directed by Donja R. Love
Presentation: Saturday July 12, 2PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
The TeeTee & Lala Show follows two LGBTQ+ teens on the coldest night of the year as they try to scheme their way off the streets. Would it be easier to secure housing if TeeTee were living with HIV? Then he could get some support from the city—at least until Lala becomes a rap star and can take care of them both.
 
The cast of The TeeTee & Lala Show will feature Jason Maina (The Swamp Dwellers), Jude Tibeau (Bad Kreyòl), and Tyqaun M. White (“POSE”).

GERTRUDE

Written by Carly Mensch
Directed by Liz Flahive
Presentation: Saturday July 12, 6PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
This isn’t Hamlet’s play. It’s his mom’s.
 
The cast of Gertrude will feature Edie Falco (“The Sopranos,” “Nurse Jackie”), Darren Goldstein (“The Franchise”), Jessica Love (Anna Christie), Christopher Lowell (Cult of Love), Sunita Mani (Death of a Unicorn), and Chris Thorn (Death of a Salesman).

BACKYARD BOYS

A Pack Play
Written by Hansol Jung
Songs by Chris Bannow, Brian Quijada and Mitchell Winter
Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene
Presentation: Sunday July 13, 2PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Fifteen years after the height of their boy band popularity, the Backyard Boys are making a comeback! Or so they are told by producer Dianca Prescott Carter Jr, from the Prescott Carter Media Dynasty. She claims to be their biggest fan and wants to produce their new demo – but there are some stipulations to this welcome interest. The comeback album will be accompanied by a Behind the Scenes Documentary … which the Boys learn is actually a reality competition show, in which just one of the four will get to debut as a solo artist. Let the games begin.
 
The cast of Backyard Boys will feature Chris Bannow (The Counterfeit Opera), Brian Quijada (Wolf Play), Mitchell Winter (Hamlet), Nygel D. Robinson (Mexodus) and Shannon Tyo (Yellow Face).
 

SHELTER

Inspired by the reporting of Lauren Sandler
Book by Kirsten Greenidge & Lauren Sandler
Music & Lyrics by Crystal Monee Hall
Directed by Lorin Latarro
Produced by FourthWall Theatrical, Jana Bezdek and Jen Hoguet
Presentation: Saturday July 19 at 7PM and Sunday July 20 at 2PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Jazmine is like a lot of nineteen-year-olds in New York, splitting her time between schoolwork and blowing off steam in the city. But she's got problems as big as her dreams, living in a homeless shelter for new mothers and caring for her newborn baby. With an infectious score that sounds like the city itself, Shelter is the unforgettable story about the often-unseen New York and one determined young woman's struggle to succeed against impossibly stacked odds. 
 
The cast of Shelter will feature Danny Bolero (They Call Me Cuban Pete: The Music and Genius of Desi Arnaz), Rheaume Crenshaw (Shucked), Maya Days (Aida), Mia Gerachis (Sweeney Todd), Matthew Griffin (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Sandra Okuboyejo (The Gag), Aramie Payton (The Outsiders), Jasmine Amy Rogers (BOOP! The Musical), Laurissa Romain (South Pacific), Ariella Serur (1776), and Donna Vivino (Wicked).
  

STOKELY

Written by Nambi E. Kelley
Directed by Kent Gash
Presentation: Friday July 25, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Stokely is an exploration of the life and legacy of Stokely Carmichael—later known as Kwame Ture—the architect of the Black Power movement. Set in 1998, two years after his diagnosis with prostate cancer, the play unfolds as Stokely records his memories with his mother, May Charles in Guinea, Africa. Through a non-linear structure, the piece interweaves historic moments with intimate reflections, revealing the deep personal relationships—especially with his mother—that shaped the man behind the movement. As his life drives towards its end, the question looms: will May Charles take up the mantle and carry forward his vision by building an institute in his name, preserving his writings, speeches, and spirit? Stokely asks what it truly means to leave a legacy—not just in the headlines of history, but in the hearts and hands of those left behind.
 
The cast of Stokely will feature Anthony Irons (The DaVinci Code), Jason Bowen (The Half-God of Rainfall), Bianca LaVerne Jones (Chicken and Biscuits), Jennifer Mogbock (Toni Stone) and Portia (A Mother).
 

I SAID EVOLUTION

Written by Noelle Viñas
Directed by Liz Carlson
Presentation: Saturday July 26, 2PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Mo's the fuck-up and Lidia has it all together. At least, that’s what we think when these queer siblings rediscover their unique capacity to teleport to one another. Over four seasons, their relationship is rendered raw with resentment, desperate confessions, dark humor, and devastating devotion. Is their love capable of finding new roots when toxic soil is all they’ve known?
 
The cast of I Said Evolution will feature Juan Castano (Danger & Opportunity) and Jeanine Mason (“Roswell, New Mexico”).
 

MANAKIN

Written by Dave Harris
Directed by Taylor Reynolds
Presentation: Saturday July 26, 6PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
Manakin is a wedding story. But not just any wedding—this one brings together four generations for the union of Son and Daughter. Oh, this wedding is also a Satanic invocation. A raw, lyrical, darkly hilarious piece about intergenerational trauma, love in all its forms, ancient traditions and sacred rituals.
 
The cast of Manakin will feature Barzin Akhavan (All’s Well That Ends Well), Brittany Bradford (Bernhardt/Hamlet), Toney Goins (Exception to the Rule), Amara Granderson ((pray)), Daniel K. Isaac (Every Brilliant Thing), Genesis Oliver (Angels in America), David Shih (Bus Stop), and Julyana Soelistyo (Golden Child).
 
Manakin was awarded the 2024 Relentless Award by the American Playwriting Foundation (APF), which was founded in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman's relentless support of truth in theater; Manakin was featured in APF's 2025 Relentless Reading Series.

Manakin was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, in New Haven, CT (James Bundy, Artistic Director, Florie Seery, Managing Director) with support from the Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation.
 

THE WOODS

Performed by Company Members of BalletCollective and San Fermin
Co-Created by Troy Schumacher & Ellis Ludwig-Leone
Directed & Choreographed by Troy Schumacher
Composed and Music Directed by Ellis Ludwig-Leone
Presentations: Saturday July 26 at 8PM and Sunday July 27 at 3PM | River Rooms
 
The Woods is an immersive concert experience created by San Fermin, led by composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone, and adventurous production company BalletCollective, led by choreographer/director Troy Schumacher, New York City Ballet. Schumacher and Ludwig-Leone also collaborated closely with Emmy Award-winning set and production designer Jason Ardizzone-West throughout the creative development of The Woods.
 
The music of San Fermin, lauded for its “knack for simultaneously expressing beauty and crisis,” (The New Yorker), lends itself to this expansive setting and theatrical treatment. What is the role of storytelling—and songwriting—in a constantly shifting, often terrifying reality? The Woods celebrates the alchemical power of music and dance to transform fear and loss into life-affirming and communal experiences: in a world that is always in motion, we must resolve to love.

 
Casting includes Lead Vocalists: Allen Tate (San Fermin), Claire Wellin (San Fermin), Mckenzie Cahill; Featured Performers: Annalise Gehling, Sophie Rose Shapiro, Thomas Hogan, Mizuho Kappa, Leslie Andrea Williams; San Fermin band: Ellis Ludwig-Leone (Bandleader), Griffin Brown (Drums), Tyler McDiarmid (Guitar), Stephen Chen (Saxophone); Additional Musicians: Andy Clausen (Trombone), Addison Maye-Saxon (Trombone), Lauren Cauley (Violin); Ensemble Dancers: Arcadian Broad, Justin Daniels, Shizu Higa, Salma Kiuhan, Devin Loh, Solange Rodrigues, Annika Wong.
 
The Woods is part of New York Stage and Film’s Stories That Move, which has lead funding support from the Jerome Robbins Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, the Frederick Loewe Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and Judith Manocherian.
 

SEARCHING FOR MR. MOON

Written by Richard Topol and Willy Holtzman
Directed by Max Mayer
Presentation: Sunday July 27, 1PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
From the moment of the birth of his daughter, Rich Topol searches for a father to replace the one he lost and finds two - his renowned father-in-law Lukas Foss and himself. With themes of family and mortality, the play also explores what it means to juggle being an artist and father at the same time. This funny and poignant tale is filled with Foss’s musical genius, which underscores this Everyman’s journey.
 
The cast of Searching for Mr. Moon will feature Richard Topol (Our Class).
 

NONE: A PRACTICAL BREVIARY

Book, Music and Lyrics by Heather Christian
Design by Jeanette Yew
Musical Direction by Jane Cardona
Presentation: Friday August 1 - Saturday August 2, 7PM | Nelly Goletti Theatre
 
None: A Practical Breviary is the 4th mass in Heather Christian's Practical Breviary series and is a wildly imagined adaptation of the medieval monastic 3pm service. Rather than a linear narrative, None is adapted from the traditional Psalms of the 3 PM monastic masses paired with ancient mystic Sufi texts, planetary treatises by Carl Sagan and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, as well as Meister Eckhart sermons—we walk out into space to confront God in the “heavens” and sing our questions to the seeming void. The music is lush, an infusion of gospel, classical, neo-soul and rock, played by a teacup orchestra alongside NASA field recordings from our solar system. As with Christian’s other breviary masses, None is a secular riff on a mass for atheists and agnostics and amateur physicists and devouts of all religions in this specific time of social injustice, political rage, environmental catastrophe and pervading anxiety that hopes to shine enough light on the wound to treat it.
 
The cast of None will feature Kirstyn C. Ballard (Animal Wisdom), Carla Duren (Hairspray), Aidan Joyce (A Wrinkle in Time) Daniel Marconi (Sweeney Todd), Barrie Lobo McLain (All In: Comedy About Love) and Adriana Scalice (SIX).
 

THE PUSHOVER