- Soho Rep in partnership with The Sol Project presents
Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members
by Mara Vélez Meléndez
directed by David MendizĂĄbal
TuesâSunday at 7:30pm
Saturday matinee at 3:00pm
May 17 - June 19
We.
Did not.
Participate.
In. This. Decision.
Lolita finds herself in the Wall Street office of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board. Like a Boricua Lolita before her, she is here in the name of La RevoluciĂłn! Sheâs got glamour, glitter, and a gun, but is she really ready?
Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members is a drag show about decolonizing places and people.
Cast
Christine Carmela
Lolita
Christine Carmela (she/her) is a trans actor/writer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from TCU with a BFA in acting. She has starred in regional productions of The Legend of Georgia McBride and Men on Boats. As a writer, she had her play Miss Molly produced at her alma mater, TCU. She is currently working towards receiving an MFA in Writing for Screen and Television at USC.
Samora la Perdida
Receptionist
Samora La Perdida (they/she) is a trilingual performer, poet, and creator. Their works range from musicals to spoken word pieces that utilize combinations of Spanish, English, and Portuguese to give voice to the beautifully complex realities of genderqueer Afro-Latines. They recently gave a TEDx Talk entitled âDo Latines Need To Speak Spanish? Finding My Lost Mother Tongue.â Their Spanglish rap opera, pato, pato, maricĂłn, premiered at Ars Novaâs ANT Fest in 2018. Their music video âPAPI RUNSâ was an official selection of the 2019 National Film Festival for Talented Youth.
Theater Credits: Shakespeare in the Parkâs The Winterâs Tale (Florizel) and The Tempest, Tarell Alvin McCraneyâs Romeo & Juliet: Outside the Box (Lord/Lady Capulet). Film: CRSHD now streaming on Hulu, and Dinner With Jeffrey now streaming on Revry. Samora graduated from LaGuardia HS as a YoungArts Presidential Scholar in the Arts and studied dance at the schools of Alvin Ailey and Debbie Allen. Carnegie Mellon Drama Alumna. Gracias Mara por darme las palabras para descolonizar mi propio gĂ©nero. Instagram/TikTok: @samoraperdida
Creative Team
Mara Vélez Meléndez
Playwright
Mara VĂ©lez MelĂ©ndez (she/her) is a playwright born and raised in Puerto Rico. Her Off-Broadway debut will take place in 2022 with Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members, produced by Soho Rep. She also adapted the upcoming Spotify/Gimlet podcast, Case 63. Mara was a 2020-2021 Playwrights Realm Writing Fellow and is currently a member of Ars Nova’s PlayGroup.
Gerardo DĂaz SĂĄnchez
Scenic Design
Gerardo DĂaz SĂĄnchez (he/they) is a NYC-based scenic designer from Guayama, Puerto Rico. Recent theater credits include: La casa de la laguna (GALA Hispanic Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Two River Theater), El HuracĂĄn by Charise Castro Smith (Yale Repertory Theater), Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf Theatre), Twelfth Night (Two River Theater), TJ loves Sally (JACK), For Carmen in San SebastiĂĄn (Merry-Go-Round Theatre), Alex & Emma (P.R.Theatre Lab). Other credits include: Tent Revival and Romeo and Juliet (Yale School of Drama), Novios Part 1, Yale Dragball, Itâs not about my mother, Mud, This American Wife, Re:Union, Yale School of Drag 2017 (Yale Cabaret); and The Trojan Women (Yale Summer Cabaret). MFA- Yale School of Drama. BA- School of Architecture at the University of Puerto Rico. Website: gerardodiazsanchez.com
Kate McGee
Lighting Design
Kate McGee (she/they) is a trans* lighting and scenic designer. At Soho Rep while you were partying. Other New York Work Includes: My Lingerie Play (Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater), Infinite Love Party (Bushwick Starr), A Hunger Artist (The Tank), Gillian Walsh’s FAME NOTIONS (Performance Space New York), 50/50 old school animation (Under the Radar, The Public, Volks Theater, Munich), Early Plays (New York City Players/Wooster Group, Henry Hewes Award Nomination, with Aaron Deyo), Masculinity Max (The Public Theater), Sound House (New Georges), Kidnap Road (La Mama), International Concert Tours: Emilyâs D+ Evolution World Tour for Esperanza Spalding. Regional Work: Life of Galileo (Playmaker’s Rep), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Esai’s Table (JAG Productions), A Tale of Two Cities (Trinity Rep), These Seven Sicknesses, An Acorn, and Neva (Brown, Trinity) kateisalightingdesigner.com
Sadah Espii Proctor
Sound Design
Sadah Espii Proctor (she/her/Espii) is a composer, sound artist, and designer working in theatre, dance, installations, and immersive experiences. Broadway: Trouble In Mind (assistant sound designer). Off Broadway: sandblasted (Vineyard/WP Theater), Is There Still Sex In the City? (Daryl Roth). Regional: The Gradient (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). Installation: Soul Tree Forest (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts), public/private (New Museum), and I Have a Door Up There (Harvard TDM). She is an alumna of Virginia Tech and a proud graduate of Virginia Tech. Website: www.sadahespiiproctor.com
Earon Nealey
Wig and Makeup Design
(she/her) Broadway: Macbeth (associate hair designer); Chicken and Biscuits (associate wig and makeup designer); Sweat (associate makeup designer). Other design: Fat Ham, Cullad Wattah, Mojada (The Public Theater); Little Girl Blue (Goodspeed, New World Stages); Meet Vera Stark, Matilda (CSFAC at Colorado College); On Sugarlad (NYTW); Nina Simone: Four Women (Berkshire Theatre Group); Once on This Island (Pioneer Theatre Company); Little Women (Dallas Theater Center); Oklahoma!, Patsy Cline (Weston Playhouse); Memphis, Dream Girls (Cape Fear Regional Theater); Cadillac Crew, Twelfth Night (Yale Rep).
Teniece Divya Johnson
Fight and Intimacy Director
Teniece Divya Johnson (they/them) is an Intimacy Director, Fight Director, Stunt Performer, and Movement Storyteller working across television, film and stage. The first Black and first non-binary intimacy director on Broadway with Slave Play, Teniece serves as a resolute advocate for a decolonized collaborative approach to art, Black intimacy, Kink and Queer representation.
Some additional credits include Succession, POSE, Lovecraft Country, American Saga Wu-Tang on Hulu, Barry Jenkinsâ The Underground Railroad, RAMY, Life & Beth, and West Side Story with Steven Spielberg. Off-stage sharing boundaries and empathy masterclasses with colleges, universities and corporations.
Patricia Marjorie
Props Designer
Patricia Marjorie (she/her) is a Brazilian Multidisciplinary Theatre artist based in New York, with focus on set design, props and directing. Upcoming designer works: The Seagull and Ulisses by Elevator Repair Service; Eva Luna by RepertĂłrio Espanhol; Recent theatre credits Song of Songs (Bushwick Starr, dir. Machel Ross), 7 Minutes (Waterwell, dir. Mei Ann Teo); Wolf Play (Soho Rep, Ma-Yi Theater Company), Black Exhibition (Bushwick Starr with Jeremy O. Harris dir. Machel Ross), Preparedness by Hillary Miller (Bushwick Starr), SKiNFoLK (Bushwick Starr & National Black Theatre), Addressless (Rattlestick Theatre), In the Southern Breeze (Rattlestick Theatre) and Lost & Found (The Tank + En Garde Arts & Downtown Alliance). Recent interactive live performance credits include The Sunset PICNIC (The Tank) and Carnavalize the Matter (TheatreLab). Patricia has also recently directed What Will Become of Kaaron? (The Tank) and her own work as a playwright A Song to Keep the Wolves Awake (The Tank).
Javier Antonio GonzĂĄlez
Dramaturg
Javier Antonio GonzĂĄlez (he/him) is a director, playwright, filmmaker and the artistic director of Caborca. Some of his work includes: Lying Lydia; Distant Star (adapted from Roberto Bolaño’s novel); Zoetrope; Open up, Hadrian; and, currently under development, Rubalee. His feature film The Entitlement received the Best Screenplay Award at the Manhattan Film Festival 2018, and received a nomination for the Tarkovsky Best Director Award at the BLOW-UP Arthouse International Filmfest 2019. His work has been published in the anthologies, Plays and Playwrights 2011 (New York Theatre Experience), Encuentro: Latinx Performance for the New American Theater (Northwestern University Press) and the journals The Puerto Rico Review, 80 grados, Los bĂĄrbaros and Conjunto from Casa de las AmĂ©ricas. He was a Van Lier Directing Fellow, a member of the Public Theaterâs Emerging Writers Group and a recipient of the Global ConnectionsâIn the Lab grant from TCG. He has taught at DreamYard Preparatory High School in the Bronx, LaGuardia Community College, and most recently, he directed Electra at Barnard College and The Lower Depths at NYU Tisch. Javier holds a BA from the University of Puerto Rico and an MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts. He grew up in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
Genevieve Ortiz
Production Stage Manager
(she/her) Off-Broadway: 7 Minutes (Waterwell); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons, BAM, Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T, Under the Radar at The Public Theater, The Movement Theatre Company); Hercules, Pretty Hunger (The Public); Lockdown (Rattlestick Theater); Recent Alien Abductions (The Play Company); The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Rollâd (The Playwrights Realm); Is God Is (Soho Rep.); Seven Spots on the Sun (Rattlestick/Sol Project); Alligator (New Georges/Sol Project); The Block (The Working Theater); The Sun Shines East (The Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater); The Golden Year (The Workshop Theater Company); Oleanna starring Austin Pendleton (The Players Club); Ghost Dancer (Mint Theater). Regional: The Christians (Baltimore Center Stage), A Nation Grooves (Mass MoCA), The Winterâs Tale (Actors Shakespeare Company at NJCU).
MarĂa Victoria MartĂnez
Assistant Director
(she/her) Actor and Theater Artist. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, MarĂa completed her BFA in the Department of Theater at the University of Puerto Rico, RĂo Piedras campus. She then became a member of the ART Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University, class of 2017, where she spent a semester training at the Moscow Art Theater in Russia. She infuses her work with a deep love for her Island and Culture. MarĂa is excited to be collaborating with this group of artists sheâs long admired.
Tyler Arnold
Assistant Costume Designer
Tyler Alexander Arnold hails from the South, as a Georgia-born and Texas raised artist. They are a graduate of The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, c/o 2017, with a BFA in Costume Design. Shortly after moving to NYC, they were the Playwrights Horizons âVan Lierâ Costume Fellow for the 2018-2019 season. They have recently been a costume assistant on Broadwayâs A Strange Loop designed by Montana Levi Blanco . Theyâve also assisted Dede Ayite on The Last of the Love Letters at Atlantic Theatre, other production credits include Broadwayâs Slave Play, American Buffalo, and Law & Order SVUÂ as a costume PA.
Wyatt Moniz
Assistant Lighting Designer
Wyatt Moniz (he/him) is a theater designer and visual artist using lighting, projection, and sculpture to create unconventional storytelling devices. He will be making his installation debut as part of Lincoln Centerâs Collider series under Mimi Lien in 2023. Recent credits include What Happens to Brown Girls⊠by Shenny de Los Angeles, The Baptism film by Carrie Mae Weems & Carl Hancock Rux, DesignWing Mentor for the Great Plains Theater Conference, and projection design for the most recent show at Mabou Mines Theater, The Vicksburg Project.
Sammy Gleason
Assistant Hair & Makeup
Sammy Gleason (he/they) is an actor, writer, producer, and wig/costume technician hailing from Colorado Springs. This is his first production in NYC and he couldnât be happier. He had the recent opportunity to work under the tutelage of wig designer Earon Nealey and is excited to assist her on this show. In his spare hours he devotes time to his drag persona Belzin Whistlez, slinging the mic as an emcee for his local burlesque scene. He is also one third of WYNOT Productions – a Pueblo Colorado based production company that specializes in custom costumes, props, and puppets for film, television, and cosplay. Enjoy the show.
Juliana Suaide
Props Associate
Juliana Costa Suaide Silva is a brazilian actress, producer and all-things-art-department based in NY. Juliana graduated in classical ballet by The Royal Academy of Dance and acting by The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Besides the acting credits, Juliana’s art department credits have included the brazilian tv show Rainha da Cocada GNT – Season 2 and 3 (Prop Master & Set Dressing) , Diabolical â Discovery ID Series (Art Director), FOX Stick Figures – Pilot (Production Designer), Lies That Bind â Discovery ID Series (Art Director) , Out Of Water – Musical (Scenic Designer & Prop Master), and others. Juliana believes in creating intelligent, educational and inspiring work for both theatre and film.
Instagram @jusuaide
Narissa Agustin
Assistant Stage Manager
Narissa Agustin (she/her) Tour: Waitress (NETworks, Lulu Tour) Off-Broadway: Out of Time (The Public), The Crusade of Connor Stephens (The Jerry Orbach Theater). Regional: A Strange Loop (Woolly Mammoth), Soft Jade (Yale Summer Cabaret), Dutch Masters, Itâs Fine, Iâm Fine, Naked Librarian, On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco (Northern Stage). Endless gratitude to her family and friends who have supported her along the way! BFA: Stage Management, University of Miami. @narissa_agustin
Joseph Distl
Production Assistant
Joseph Distl (He/Him, They/Them) is a queer latiné theater artist based in Queens, NY. They graduated from Queensborough Community College with an A.S. in Technical Theater. Credits include ¥Oso Fabuloso and the Bearbacks!(INTAR) as Grizz, Julio Aint Goin Down Like That(INTAR) as the stage manager/dramaturg, and The Taming!(QCC) as the assistant director. Using his background in research and theatre he pushes to create conversations about and for marginalized communities on and off the stage.
Partners
The Sol Project is a national theater initiative dedicated to producing the work of Latinx playwrights in New York City and beyond. Founded by Artistic Director Jacob G. PadrĂłn and driven by an artistic collective, The Sol Project works in partnership with leading theaters around the country to amplify Latinx voices and build artistic homes for artists of color. Through the writers we champion, The Sol Project aspires to create a bold, powerful, and kaleidoscopic body of work for the new American theater. The Sol Project launched with the world premiere of Alligator by Hilary Bettis in collaboration with New Georges, followed by the New York premieres of Seven Spots on the Sun by MartĂn Zimmerman (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater) and Oedipus El Rey by Luis Alfaro (The Public Theater). In the fall of 2018, The Sol Project partnered with Yale Repertory Theatre to produce the world premiere of El HuracĂĄn by Charise Castro Smith and in early 2020 partnered with Baltimore Center Stage and The Playwrights Realm to produce the world premiere of Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally by Noah Diaz. The artistic collective includes: Adriana Gaviria, Rebecca Martinez, David MendizĂĄbal, Julian Ramirez, and Laurie Woolery. Joey Reyes is the Associate Producer. Isabel Pask is the Producing Assistant. Brian Herrera is the Resident Scholar. Stephanie Ybarra is the Resident Dramaturg. Our partners include: Soho Rep, Atlantic Theater Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cara MĂa Theatre Company, LAByrinth Theater Company, Magic Theatre, MCC Theater, New Georges, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Playwrights Realm, The Public Theater, WP Theater and Yale Repertory Theatre. www.solproject.org
Sponsors
Special thanks to Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman for supporting the 99¹ Sunday performance on June 5th.