LYSISTRATA

Chelese Belmont studied dance for twenty years and spent her adolescence performing in community musical theatre before getting her B.A. in History from UC Berkeley. She recently graduated from the Actors Studio Drama School with her MFA in Acting. Recent work includes an assassin in the film, Three Bad Men, a misguided teenager in the film, Cairefield, and a killer’s target in the horror film, The Absents. She also recently played Allison in Look Back in Anger as part of the Actors Studio Drama School’s repertory season. This is her first production with Phare Play and her post-graduation NYC debut.  www.chelesebelmont.com

Kilvin Johnson Jr. is 'straight Brooklyn' according to Facebook. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Professional Performing Arts School. He recently finished shooting a pilot for an educational series and is excited to join Phare Play.

Doua Moua is an actor based in New York City. Originally from Saint Paul, MN, he was recently seen in Clint Eastwood’s latest film Gran Torino playing the role of Spider, as well as Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s film, Uncertainty, playing the role Café Clerk.  As part of Phare Play, Doua has been part of productions such as WWSS - their 21 hour play festival - and Moonbite. With Yvua Jiu Productions, Moua has appeared as Chao in Magic Robe, Inho in Tale of the White Fox. At Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Doua played Ong Khan in 1120 Underdog.  Learn more about him at www.douamoua.com

Maya Ray - After taking some time off from acting to pursue some of her other passions, Maya is very excited to be working on Lysistrata. This is Maya's first production with Phare Play Productions. Some of her favorite past performances include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and Wit. Maya can also sometimes be found performing as Sunny Sparkle-Toes the clown. When she is not acting, Maya can be found teaching yoga all around the city.
 

Eddie Rodriguez is excited to return to the New York stage with the incredible cast and crew of this production.  If you've been around Phare Play a bit, you might have seen him as the Police Superintendent in No Sex Please, We're British, a "landscape architect" in Arcadia or as part of Mindbleach.  He has also appeared in two of the WWSS - 21 hour play festivals.  You can also see Eddie (Partygoer #132) in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace as well as the upcoming Angelina Jolie movie Salt (Secret Service Man #12).  And somehow, Eddie still manages to find time to keep himself firmly planted in the practice of law and the world of political campaigns.

Jessica Seley is proud to be making her Phare Play debut in this production. A recent NYU- Tisch graduate, she would like to thank her friends, family, and all of the amazing people who have given their time and energy to teach and support her. Her previous New York productions include Two (If By Sea) (NYU-ETW), Product x4.0 (Modern Dance Awareness Society), A’hogar (SOMAD), Necessary Targets (NYU-Meisner), and the film, The Track Meet (dir. Eric Laplante).

Derek Allen Watson moved to New York in August 2009 and is excited to be making his New York City debut in Lysistrata. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio where he appeared in numerous productions such as Witness for the Prosecution, Rumors, Guys and Dolls, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Romeo and Juliet. He appeared as a lead in the feature film Tomorrow for a Dollar directed by Don Crislip which debuted in New York City in August 2008. At the same time, Derek’s work as a model in the fashion industry has provided him the chance to work all over the country with renowned artists and photographers such as Rick Day and Mckenkie James.

Phare Play Productions has built a solid reputation in the artistic community having produced a wide range of works from the classic (The Importance of Being Earnest) to the contemporary (Snake in Fridge), the dramatic (The Twilight of the Golds) to the comedic (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged]), the original (Gay Slave Handbook) to the published (Arcadia). Two of our original productions, Callback and Fat Kids on Fire, are now published and this past year has also seen our Artistic Director, Blake Bradford become an Emmy award winner for his work on Live at Lincoln Center: Madama Butterfly!  Under the excellent guidance of Emmy winner Joan Darling, Christopher-Award winning playwright Bill Svanoe, New York Times Bestseller Judy Kerr, and Strasburg Institute founding member Kerry Shear, we embark on our fourth season of innovative and entertaining theatre and we invite you to become a part of it all!