TheaterWorks! Program 2022

Jon Ayala (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor)

Anthony A. Delfi (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) This will be the 6th play written by Anthony for Theaterworks! following others such as Specimen Day and Performance Enhancer. A NYC native currently residing in New Jersey, Mr. Delfi continues to refine his craft thanks in large part to the program you are supporting this evening.

Shi Greene (Pathways2Apprenticeship) (Playwright/Actor) I grew up in the foster care system, left to figure out life on my own at 18 years old with little to no support. Throughout my misguided childhood journey and time incarcerated as an adult I consistently attracted many forms of art in to my dark world. From drawing, to poetry, to choir, and dance. I always wanted to be an actress, now I am. I was introduced to acting and theatre amid the Covid-19 pandemic by Richard Hoehler who founded of Acting Out, a professional theatre company for formerly incarcerated actors. As stated in the Actors Vow, “I will take my rightful place on stage and I will be myself”. Outside of my newfound love and participation in theatre I am a proud dues paying member of Local 79 Laborers and work full time as the Executive Director of Pathways To Apprenticeship, a non-profit organization placing adults released from prison in to the NYC Building Construction Trades. My world is no longer dark; I see, speak, feel and live in color

John Dennis David Keane (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) John was born and raised in The Bronx and currently lives in Westchester County. He has worked in an Upper East Side CO-OP for nearly twenty years. John is currently enrolled at CUNY Hostos in The Bronx and is slowly working his way towards an associates degree in liberal arts. John was one of the first recipients of the Mark Plesent Commission Fund. When he is not writing he enjoys reading, photography, and creating digital art. 

Pete Mergel (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) Pete lives in N.J with his wife Debbie and daughters Megan and Caitlin. He is a proud member of local 32BJ for over 20 years. His plays Falling Up ( Newark N.J ), Book Covers ( Spokane, Washington ), Play Ball (Spokane , Washington), Player of the Week ( Rochester, NY ), Far From the Tree ( Newton Washington, Northport, L.I.,NYC ), OMG ( NYC, Northport L.I.), Bite Me( NYC, Chicago Ill.),  and ShowTime (NYC) have all been selected for full productions. I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to Joe Roland (TheaterWorks! Program Director) for his patience, professionalism and most of all his friendship. I would also like to thank my fellow playwrights for their encouragements and camaraderie. Also everyone at the Working Theater for their continued support of TheaterWorks! which gives working people a platform to have their voices heard.

Daniela Poveromo (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) was born and raised in Cali, Colombia and currently lives in New York City. When she is not working at 32BJ Member Services, Daniela is a dog-sitter, who also likes to do photography, video editing, and crochet. Daniela is new to playwriting and acting but is excited for this new journey in her life thanks to the Theaterworks! program.

JC Rodriguez (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) is excited to be part of this year’s TheaterWorks! showcase.  JC  is a Actor and Filmmaker from New York City who is passionate about works that speak to the urban experience.  His first independent feature film “Tracked” won Best Feature at the Ocktober Film Festival.  Stage credits: RENT, West Side Story, UBU Rock. Tours: CityKids (10years!), SPARK Peer Players, NiteStar Theater, PlayingWithReality. JC has been moonlighting in building management and operations for over a decade. His second independent feature is currently in development. 

Deanna Tinglin (32BJ) (Playwright/Actor) is an accomplished talent creative with a Jamaican/Cuban upbringing who is widely regarded as an influencer in the area of fashion, design, and staging from a very early age. Her talents have taken her from the runway, to the stage, and even the classroom, studying Architecture and Theater at Cooper Union, Borough of Manhattan Community College,  City College, and Brooklyn College.  She currently works as an Assistant to the  Executive Manager at a Residential Condominium on Riverside Boulevard. In 2021 Deanna set a goal to go on a vacation every month, to fulfill a dream of visiting sites across the world. In January she went to Tamarac Florida. In February she went to San Juan Puerto Rico. In March she went to Cancun, Payed del Carmen, and visited other sites in Southern Mexico.  In April she went to Vegas. In May she went to Dominican Republic.  In June she went to Saint Martin. In July she went to the Bahamas. In August she took a break and did many different road trips. In September she went to Fort Lauderdale Florida and Aruba. In October she went to California. In November she took a break and did road trips. In December she went to Cabo Mexico.  Deanna enjoys exploring the world,  vacationing, and and meeting new people.  Deanna seizes the opportunity to develop her career and her passion through the many continuing education options provided by 32 BJ including various elements of the Arts through the Working theater works program. 

Sheryl Moller (Actor) has worked extensively in theater, film, and television. She recently appeared in the Starz original series Sweetbitter as Leslie. This followed her film appearance as Helen in Influence (Platinum Remi Award). Other films include Welcome to Dopeland, La Primavera, Sex and Violence and The Last Day of June. In New York, Sheryl’s stage performances include Pilgrims by Elizabeth Gilbert (directed by Shira Piven), Footfalls/Not I (directed by Andre Gregory), I Am Laika, The Julia Project, Mother Land (all directed by Shira Piven, HB Playwright’s Foundation), Gilgamesh and Sister Strata (Ohio Theater) and Still waiting for Lefty (Tribecca Playhouse). In Chicago at the Blackstone Theater, Sheryl was in Juno and the Paycock, Working and The Great Race. Sheryl was a member of Common Ground Theatre Company and founding member of Water Theatre Company. Sheryl is excited to be participating for the second time with The Working Theater.

Reynaldo Piniella (Actor) was seen on Broadway in Trouble in Mind and Thoughts of a Colored Man. Off-Broadway credits include work at Signature, TFANA, Rattlestick, NYTW Next Door, Working Theater and the Public Theater.  Regional work includes Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, O’Neill, Sundance Theatre Lab, Cleveland Play House. TV: Blue Bloods, Sneaky Pete, Flesh & Bone, Greenleaf, The Carrie Diaries, Law & Order: SVU, NYC 22, Us & Them, Louie, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com

Kris Sidberry (Actor) NYC: All American Girls (off-Broadway, National African American Theater Festival). Regional: Huntington Theatre’s Hurricane Diane, Le Petite Theater’s High Priestess of Dark Alley. Lyric Stage Company: The Cake, Intimate Apparel, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark.  Speakeasy Stage: School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play, Significant Other Play. Company One: The Good Negro, Grimm. Former Company Member of Theater Espresso and The Freedom Trail. Founding member of the all-female experimental movement company LAS in NYC. Various film, TV, voiceover, and commercial projects, including The New Whitney Houston Biopic I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY, HBO’s new series Julia, Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit, Lifetime’s Web Of Lies. IG:krissidberries

Johnny Zito (Actor) Award winning Actor/Filmmaker. Studied at New Actors Workshop under Mike Nichols, George Morrison, and their amazing faculty. Also, under Paul Sills and the Sills family at Paul Sills’ Wisconsin Theater Game Center. Owner of “Nora Lune Productions” whose short films, “à la mémoire de Lune” and “Love Lives in a Void”,  received numerous awards on the film festival circuit. “Pulse of My Heart”, received many accolades in screenwriting competitions and is in development as a feature. Most recent TV appearance was on “Adult Swim” in “Moon Hoax”. Many thanks to Joe Roland and his students, 32BJ, Megan Dickert, and Working Theater. An honor and a joy to play in Theaterworks!

Megan Schwarz Dickert (Stage Manager) New York: Lincoln Center/LCT3, Atlantic, Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons, Civilians, TFANA, NYTW, Page 73, Public, Clubbed Thumb (affiliated artist), WP Theater, CSC, Playwrights Realm, Play Company, Juilliard, Rattlestick, Foundry, Bedlam, 13P, Flea, Builders Association, New Georges. Regional: Kennedy Center, NYSAF, Westport, Bard SummerScape, Hartford Stage, Williamstown, Long Wharf, Actors Theatre of Louisvillle, Trinity Rep, Adirondack Theatre Festival, Big Apple Circus, Capital Rep, and Idaho, North Carolina, Utah, and Nebraska Shakespeare Festivals.  Recent: Whisper House (Civilians.)  Upcoming: Songs About Trains (Working Theater) & …what the end will be (Roundabout.) Megan is an advanced open water scuba diver and has run five marathons.  www.megandickert.com

Joe Roland ( 32BJ Program Director) Joe Roland is a playwright and an actor. He has appeared in film & television, on Broadway & Off-Broadway. His play On the Line was produced at the Cherry Lane Theater by Mike Nichols, and Boyett Ostar productions and later won the Cleveland Critics Circle award for best production. For the past 10 years he has been teaching playwriting to union members through the TheaterWorks! program in collaboration with the 32BJ Training Fund and Working Theater. After moving to the Berkshires, Joe has worked with high school students through Barrington Stage Company’s Playwright Mentoring Project, something he hopes to do again in the future.

Joe White ( P2A Program Director) graduated Cum Laude from The University Of Rhode Island with a BA in English and a BFA in Theatre. He has been an active member of the theatre community in New York City for 38 years, performing in off-Broadway theatres, including So-Ho Rep, The Public Theatre, West Side Arts Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has performed at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, toured India and acted in Regional Theatre. Joe’s film and television acting credits include Goodfellas directed by Martin Scorcese, and numerous episodes of TV’s Law and Order and Blue Bloods. As a director, Joe has worked at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Lincoln Center Institute and The Williamstown Theatre Festival, to name a few. He is an Acting Coach at Fordham Law School and teaches playwriting for The Working Theater. He is a Teaching Artist for Manhattan Theatre Club and Theatre Development Fund. Joe has spent many years volunteering for The 52nd St Project (a program which brings theatre professionals together with the underserved children in Hell’s Kitchen). Joe is a member of Actors & Writers, a theatre company in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where he maintains a home.

The 32BJ Training Fund is a joint labor-management partnership that offers training to eligible participants at no cost. The fund is supported by contributions negotiated between 32BJ SEIU and participating employers. Our mission is to train every participant to grow to the next level. We want to continually raise the standards of our industry by providing 32BJ members with the tools they need to meet the challenges of a changing industry. At the 32BJ Training Fund everything we do supports that one goal of making it possible for our members to get the education, training, and skills they need to grow in the quickly changing property services industry. Linda G. Nelson, Director.

TRAINING.32BJFUNDS.ORG

Pathways2Apprenticeship started in 2013 by a group of volunteer representatives of construction-industry labor unions and community organizations in New York City with a mission to recruit, train, and mentor people from low-income communities – specifically those in the re-entry community – for life-long careers in union construction. Since its founding, P2A has assisted hundreds of people from low-income communities (more than half of whom have a history of justice involvement) to be admitted into a Building Trades apprenticeship program. Many have gone on beyond their apprenticeship to become journeywork’s and shop stewards, while others are also P2A Peer Mentors – facilitating classes and conducting information sessions.

To learn more visit https://p2atrades.org/

Working Theater is dedicated to producing culturally diverse plays that explore the lives of working people and the issues they confront in an increasingly complex world. Its mission is to create theater about and for working people at working people’s prices. TheaterWorks! began in 2001 as a program to train working people to write and perform their own plays. Thus far Working Theater has offered TheaterWorks! to workers at 32BJ SEIU, CWA Local 1180, TWU Local 100, DC 37, SSEU Local 371, UNITE! and Cornell University’s School of Industry and Labor Relations.

To learn more about Working Theater and our spring productions please visit www.theworkingtheater.org.