American Theatre Artists Online

Beth Leavel

Tony Award winner Beth Leavel has been delighting Broadway audiences for decades. She was nominated for the 2019 Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle awards for The Prom and she received Tony, Drama Desk, NY Outer Critics Circle and LA Drama Critics Awards for her performance as the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone.  Beth also received Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her role as Florence Greenberg in Baby It’s You. 

Her other Broadway credits include: Mrs. June Adams in Bandstand, Emily in Elf, Donna in Mamma Mia!, Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein, Dorothy Brock in the 42nd Street revival, Tess in the original company of Crazy For You, Mrs. Bixby in The Civil War, Ellie in Hal Prince's Showboat, and her Broadway debut as Anytime Annie in the original production of 42nd Street.

She will soon be bringing the iconic role of Miranda Priestly to the Broadway stage in the highly anticipated production of The Devil Wears Prada. 

Jared Bradshaw and Lindsay Northen

Jared Bradshaw and Lindsay Northen are a true theatre couple.  Both of them have extensive experience performing on Broadway and in theatres across the country.

Lindsay is currently in the Broadway cast of Wicked where for years she has understudied the role of Glinda and performed nightly in the ensemble. Jared was in the original Broadway cast of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and performed in Jersey Boys for 8 years in Chicago, on tour and on Broadway.

Both of them are often called to take on the most challenging roles as understudies or swings. Their work often keeps performances running even under the most difficult circumstances and, in many ways, they are the backbone of the Broadway industry.

When not on stage, both of them work hard to balance maintaining a career in the performing arts while being parents to their 6 year old daughter Georgia.

Joy Jones

Joy Jones has appeared Off Broadway, in London at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and at various prestigious venues like The Public Theatre, Lincoln Center and Playwrights Horizons. 

Known for her portrayal of smart, vulnerable yet resilient characters, Joy has deep roots in DC, and some of her most memorable credits have been on stages in the Nation’s Capital including Jubilee, A Raisin in the Sun and Mary T & Lizzy K at Arena Stage and The Hard Problem, Cloud Nine, Belleville, and Invisible Man at Studio Theatre.

Her performance as Nina Simone in the world premiere of The Champion at TheatreSquared in Arkansas garnered rave reviews and she has built a strong reputation in regional theatres across the country for her versatility, being able to play everything from jazz singers to white-collar professionals, to Shakespearean queens and caring mothers.

Joy has an MFA in Acting from UNC-Chapel Hill and she has trained at the British American Drama Academy. She is a Helen Hayes Award winner and an instructor, teaching voice-and-speech at the Shakespeare Theatre Company and coaching private clients.

https://thejoyjones.com

Frank Britton

You can’t think of Washington, D.C. theatre, without thinking of Frank Britton, a DC native who has been a part of the local professional theatre scene for nearly two decades.

He is a graduate and faculty member of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Georgetown, and has appeared in productions with many area theatres including Arena Stage, Imagination Stage, Round House Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Avant Bard Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, 1st Stage, NextStop Theatre Company, Theater Alliance and SCENA Theatre.

He has appeared regionally at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Firehouse Theatre in Richmond, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Burning Coal Theatre Co in Raleigh, NC, and off-off-Broadway at La MaMa ETC in New York City.

In 2018, he earned the Helen Hayes Award (DC’s equivalent of the Tony) for his performance in JESUS HOPPED THE ‘A’ TRAIN.

Michael J. Bobbitt

Artistic Director Michael J. Bobbitt joined New Repertory Theatre in the Boston area, as an arts leader, director, choreographer, and playwright in 2019. Previously, he served as Artistic Director for Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland since 2007, where he transformed the organization into a respected theatre/training company in the DC area, as well as a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences.

In his 20 plus year career in the theatre, Bobbitt has commissioned new works by noted playwrights, transferred two shows to Off-Broadway, built an academy, and earned dozens of Helen Hayes Award Nominations including eight wins.

He has directed or choreographed at Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Center Stage, Roundhouse Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and the Washington National Opera.

As a writer, his work was chosen for the NYC International Fringe Festival and he has two plays published by Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatricals.

He is one of a small group of African-American men who lead prominent regional theatres in the US, and a focus of his work has been to reach out to under served populations and increase cultural diversity in theater.  

Carolyn Griffin

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin has been with MetroStage in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia since its founding in 1984 and has produced over one hundred main-stage productions, including seventeen plays and musicals that were world premieres, and dozens of cabarets. 

She is committed to producing the best contemporary writing and showcasing the best regional artists reflecting the diversity of the DC metro area for a broad-based audience. She has built three theatres by re-purposing nontraditional storefronts (and a lumber warehouse) into intimate well-equipped theatre spaces, and is currently working on a fourth.

She has chaired both the Alexandria Arts Forum, which she co-founded, and the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and has served on regional panels for both the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Kentucky Arts Council.

She has received many awards including the Actors Center Award of Distinction, the Cultural Affairs Award from the Alexandria Commission for Women, and the “Helen’s Star”, named after Helen Hayes, from Theatre Washington, “presented to daring visionaries who have shaped and redefined the landscape of Washington theatre.”

Billy Bustamante

Billy Bustamante is a NYC-based Performer, Director, Choreographer and Photographer.  He has appeared on Broadway in Miss Saigon and The King and I and his various NYC and regional credits include Soft Power and Here Lies Love at the Public Theatre, and productions at the Ahmanson, Arena Stage, Old Globe, and the Paper Mill Playhouse.

He is co-founder of Broadway Barkada a Filipino cultural organization that aims to nurture and support Filipino artists and bring their experience to a diverse audience. He is also on the faculty at Jen Waldman Studio and he runs a successful photography business, Billy B Photography.

Judy McLane

Judy McLane is a seasoned Broadway performer with a career spanning several decades. She starred as both Donna Sheridan and Tanya in Mamma Mia! on Broadway for more than 4,000 performances, making her the longest running lead in that show’s history.

Off-Broadway she recently starred in Romeo and Bernadette receiving an Outer Critics Circle Award and she created the role of Vienna in Johnny Guitar, garnering a Drama Desk Nomination and a Drama League Award.

Her other Broadway credits include: Kiss of the Spider Woman with the legendary Chita Rivera, Aspects of Love with John Cullum, and Chess.

From the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods and Maria Callas in Master Class, to Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and Diana in Next to Normal, Judy McLane has a knack for playing strong leading ladies.

Elena Velasco

Elena Velasco is a theatre artist whose work encompasses many aspects of performance, production, activism and education. During her 25 year career she has devoted her time equally between performance and community engagement, throughout the DC metro area, with a focus on Title 1, immigrant and marginalized populations.

Her directing and choreography credits include work at Convergence Theatre (which she co-founded), Synetic Theater, Keegan Theatre, GALA Hispanic Theatre, Imagination Stage, Source Festival, Mosaic Theatre Company, Avant Bard, and Theatre J. and she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Theatre Alliance, Discovery Theatre, Imagination Stage, Signature Theatre STAGES, and in several films, commercials, and TV shows.

She serves as the Co-Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and has provided EDIA consultation for organizations such as Theatre Washington, Gandhi Brigade, North Carolina Women’s Theatre Festival and Southeastern Theatre Conference.

Jenelle Lynn Randall

Jenelle Lynn Randall is an actor, singer and writer with an impressive resume of work on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at regional theatres across the country including All Shook Up, the 1^st national tour of Brooklyn The Musical and playing “Lorrell” in Dreamgirls (at the MUNY alongside Jennifer Holliday).

In 2019, Jenelle wrote, Executive Produced and starred as Eartha Kitt in I Wanna Be Evil: The Eartha Kitt Story performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. 

She is also the founder and producer (alongside Mildred Marie Langford) of the Always Working Reading Series, which started as The August Wilson Reading Series, a new initiative to create opportunities for actors of color with monthly readings of August Wilson’s plays.