How to Dance in Ohio
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Nicole D’Angelo (they/she) is a music director, actor, and multi-instrumentalist in the NJ/NYC area. A recovering classical musician, they majored in piano and bass clarinet at Montclair State University before pursuing musical theater full time. Nicole recently made their Broadway debut as assistant music director and script consultant for the new musical How to Dance in Ohio, for which they won a special Drama Desk Award as a member of the show’s groundbreaking accessibility team. FInd the episode here.
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REBEKAH GREER MELOCIK is a lyricist and bookwriter. Her work with composer- collaborator, Jacob Yandura, includes THE LAST QUEEN OF CANAAN (book: Harrison David Rivers), WRINGER (dir: Stephen Brackett), THE TOWER and HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO (dir: Sammi Cannold) which premiered on Broadway Dec 10, 2023.
Recognitions and residencies include: SPACE on Ryder Farm residency, Jonathan Larson Grant finalists, NAMT Festival of New Musicals, Ars Nova's UNCHARTED residency, the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Godspeed Musicals, the York Theatre's NEO residency, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, Retreat, Cap21's Writers Residency and Ars Nova's ANT Fest.
Rebekah holds a B.A. in Poetry from University of Southern California and an M.F.A from New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. She also has written stories for the award-winning educational company Chess At Three. Find the episode here.
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Ariel Reich is an NYC based Actor, Director and Mindfulness Artist. Most recently, she performed in the Broadway National Tour of The Band's Visit. As a performer, Ariel has appeared on stages such as Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Dolby, among others. On screen, she appears in the film The Reunion, Love Online, as well as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Younger, and The Deuce. In addition to her performance career, Ariel has a background in Arts in Medicine, working as a researcher and practitioner. Her "Suicide Prevention through Theatre Intervention" research was internationally recognized in 2017 by the Culture, Health & Well-being research conference in Bristol, UK. Ariel is currently developing and facilitating Creative Arts and Mindfulness based practices for people with cognitive differences with the 92NY Program for Cognitive Strength and Ability. In all aspects of her work, Ariel is passionate about telling stories that amplify underrepresented voices, illuminate difficult conversations, and empower people of all abilities. Find the episode here.
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Madison Kopec is a native of South Bend, IN, where she grew up performing in community theatre. Diagnosed with Autism as a junior in high school presented challenges, but opportunities also manifested. In 2019 she was cast in the industry reading of, INDIGO- A New Musical, which led to its Regional premier in 2023. That was quickly followed by the industry reading of How to Dance In Ohio, that Regional premier then the Broadway run in 2023-2024. She is honored to have met and worked with so many wonderful neurodiverse and neurotypical people these past few years and is very excited to continue working with her peers. Find the transcript here.
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Desmond Luis Edwards (they/he/she) Broadway: How To Dance in Ohio (Remy) Regional Theatre: How to Dance in Ohio (Remy) at Syracuse Stage TV: Blue Bloods. Desmond and their fabulous hair is represented by Bohemia Group & DDO Agency. @the.dez.edwards.
Desmond Edwards as Remy from @ohiomusical comes in on the podcast to share insight into the musical and tips and tricks the cast had in the duration of the show times. Find the episode here.
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Liz Weber (they/them) is an autistic freelance AEA stage manager and audio engineer/ designer who has a passion for justice and equality especially in the theater spaces that they work. Most recently, they worked on the stage management and accessibility teams of How To Dance in Ohio on Broadway. The Access Team of How to Dance in Ohio won a 2024 Special Drama Desk highlighting their efforts to bring disability to the mainstream of a Broadway stage for the first time in a large swath. They also served as the Monitor Engineer at Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, Wisconsin for the past two summers where they mixed artists like Dessa, KT Tunstall, The Allman Family Revival, and Gladys Knight. Other recent credits include - PSM of All Things Equal - The Life and Trials of RBG for its first national tour; Associate Sound Designer/A1 for the Big Apple Circus in 2022, and sound designer for over 30 shows for the SheNYC festival which strives for equity amongst marginalized genders in NYC. Find the episode here.