SAG-AFTRA Foundation and BroadwayWorld.com have partnered for a filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen.
Please join us for a Conversations Q&A with the cast and creators of Come From Away, Geno Carr, Jenn Colella, Joel Hatch, Q.Smith, Irene Sankoff, and David Hein .
Moderated by BroadwayWorld.com's Richard Ridge of "Backstage with Richard Ridge!".
Estimated event end time: 3:30PM
PANELIST BIOS:
GENO CARR- Actor
Geno Carr is gratefully making his Broadway debut! A BroadwayWorld and Craig Noel award nominee, Geno has appeared Off-Broadway, on national tours and regionally at La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Cygnet Theatre, Heritage Theatre and many others. Favorite credits include Allegiance, The Producers, The Foreigner, Next to Normal, The Full Monty, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Assassins and Little Shop of Horrors. MFA, Sarah Lawrence College, Dual BA, Hartwick College. For my amazing family. www.GenoCarr.com
JENN COLELLA - Actor
2017 Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award winner, Tony Award nominee for Come From Away. Broadway: If/Then, Chaplin, High Fidelity, Urban Cowboy (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). Off-Broadway: Beebo Brinker Chronicles, Lucky Guy, Slut, Closer Than Ever. Regional: Come From Away (La Jolla, Craig Noel Award; Ford’s, Helen Hayes Award; Toronto, Dora Award nomination), Peter Pan (Sacramento Music Circus), Side Show (Kennedy Center). TV: “Feed the Beast,” “Elementary,” “All My Children,” “Rescue Me,” “The Good Wife.” Film: Uncertainty. MFA Acting, UC Irvine.
JOEL HATCH - Actor Broadway: Billy Elliot, Annie. Off-Broadway: Adding Machine (Obie, Lucille Lortel awards). National tours: Show Boat, Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast. Regional: Goodman: House and Garden, Chicago Shakes: Cymbeline, Writers Theatre: Another Part of the Forest, Indiana Rep: Inherit the Wind, Alliance Theatre: Bull Durham. TV: “The Good Wife,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Elementary,” “Prison Break.”
Q. SMITH - Actor
A heartfelt thank you to all involved: my amazing cast members, David and Irene, Christopher Ashley, the entire creative team, crew, the coolest band on Broadway and Junkyard Dog Productions. A special thank you to my parents and family for always believing in me, BRS/GAGE, my light and my beautiful friends. I dedicate this show to Hannah O’Rourke and her family and the people of Newfoundland. Ithaca College Graduate. Psalm 139. www.QdotSmith.com
IRENE SANKOFF & DAVID HEIN - Creators
Irene and David are a Canadian married writing team. Their first show, My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding (based on David’s mother’s true story) was the hit of the Toronto Fringe Festival, and then picked up for a commercial run by Mirvish Productions. It has now played and won best musical awards in the New York Musical Theatre Festival and across North America, with Sankoff and Hein performing in most productions. Come From Away was developed at the Canadian Music Theatre Project and Goodspeed Musicals’ Festival of New Artists, showcased at the NAMT Festival of New Works and enjoyed a recordsetting world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory, followed by Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and the Gander Community Centre Hockey Rink. Come From Away was recently nominated for eight Dora Mavor Moore Awards and won four Helen Hayes Awards, five Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical. David and Irene were nominated for Tony Awards for Best Book and Score and won the 2017 Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards for Best Book. Irene and David are proud members of the Dramatists Guild and ASCAP. Immeasurable thanks to all of Molly’s People, to everyone who helped us on this journey and to our extraordinary friends from Away and in Newfoundland for inspiring and trusting us. Thank you for letting us tell your story. @sankoffandhein.
