WHO WE ARE...
Scott Allinson (Founding member/ Business Developement/ Media Manager)
A founding member of TAPT, Scott has been an integral part of the company's direction and success. From finances, budgeting and business communication to work ethic practices and creative input, Scott has helped ensure TAPT's inevitable reputation of professionalism and respect . Scott is also the official photographer for TAPT through donje' photography.
An Economic Financial Analyst, Scott's business background, input and feedback are essential. His love for the arts and passion for creativity is inspiring.
Nichole Donje’ (Founder/ Executive Director/Artistic Director)
TAPT is the creative vision of Founder/Artistic Director Nichole Donje’. Founded in 2006 as a means for artists to come together to support one another to grow. TAPT has become an artistic platform fashioned to foster the careers of the artists involved while reminding one another that the world is bigger, more open and more positive than often thought. Theatre creates community; it is a perfect example to remind us that human contact is not obsolete.
An actor, director and technician for 20+ years, she has worked with new plays at their various stages of development her entire career. Her goal has always been to use great theatre and talent to bring society together to talk about not simply how good or bad the play is, but what makes the story important. Why does it resonate with us as people? The objective is to work with plays that stir up discussion about topics that we struggle to be honest with in our society.
TAPT's, first NYC Showcase (done in partnership with Free2BU Productions) of its continuing Short Cutz series played to a SOLD OUT house every night! This followed the successful production for The Big Read RI finale production funded by the NEA, entitled Voices: In Search of Truth where we traveled with 8 talented people from NYC to perform to a wonderful crowd in Providence, RI at the URI Feinstein Campus’ Paff Auditorium (Nichole served as Director & Producer of “Voices” as well as key consultant on the Big Read RI project consisting of over 25 public events).
Nichole is an actress, director and producer. She is hands on in every aspect of the company and stives to create a place where artists love to work, including herself!
*For numerous recommendations please visit my
TAPT CAT, Our Creative Advisory Team
S. Brian Jones (Professional Consultant)
Mr. Jones received Bravo's Excellence in Arts Education Award for his Playwright in the Prison program and was recognized in the press for his work with chronically ill children and teens, as well as mentally challenged teens and young adults. In addition, he and the students of "The Place," a high school for homeless, runaway and transitional teens, were featured on NBC's KNSD Channel 12 San Diego for their show "Perceptions."
In his theatre career, Mr. Jones has worked with the Brown University Rites and Reasons Theatre, the Delaware Theatre Company, the Tony® award winning La Jolla Playhouse (under the Artistic Direction of Michael Grief of Rent), and The Artist Theatre Playground, where he currently serves as the Artist in Residence. Mr. Jones graduated from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and a Minor in Theatre and Business Management.
Max Rhyser ( Actor -SAG/AEA-, Producer, Writer)
Max was born and raised in Europe. He launched his professional stage career as a teenager in Amsterdam, and has since graced stages in London and New York. While in New York Max has gone on to produce for stage and screen. His most recent project, IN BETWEEN MEN, is nominated for several awards including 'best ensemble' and has reached over a million viewers in a very short period of time. Season 2 is about set to start pre-production.
Currently Max is involved in several projects, including 2 of his own short films, several plays and the lead role in an upcoming feature film.
Directing projects currently in the works are Aja Houston's play SUPER WOMEN and his own short film TAMBA.
Max is honored to be on the Creative Advisory Team for TAP't.
News regarding additional credits and his latest reel are available at:
www.maxrhyser.com
Bonna Tek (Actress, Producer)
A Cambodian-American actress from Jacksonville, FL. She is now based in NYC and has worked in theater, film, television, commercial, industrial, and voiceover. Bonna has a BA in Spanish from the University of Florida, where she was a pre-med student, and an MFA in acting from New School University. Her Fall 2010 project will be co-producing Leviathan Lab’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, as well as performing as the character of Antonio. Recent theater credits: Something Blue (Diverse City Theater Company’s Pearl Project on Theater Row), Lauren Yee’s Caution (Samuel French OOB Festival 2010), Sweet Karma (Queens Theater in the Park), Just Knots (Samuel French OOB Festival 2009 winner), Nandita Shenoy’s Rules of Engagement (Planet Connections Theater Festival), Never Disconnected 1 & 2 (Nuyorican Poets Café), Once a Goddess (Horse Trade Theater Co.). She also works as an actor with the Emerging Writers Group at the Public Theater and as part of an ensemble for Suzan Lori-Parks’s NYU playwrights class. Alumna of the Shakespeare Lab at the Public Theater, 2008, and member of Leviathan Lab, a studio for Asian-Americans
Bill McMahon (Playwright, Head of The Playwright's Continuum)
Bill's latest project is WORLD OF TOMORROW, about Robert Moses and his later life battles with the press, politics and especially Jane Jacobs. RANDOM was named a finalist for the 2008 Mildred and Albert Panowski Playwriting Award. MISSING THE 4:55 was named winner of Slippery Rock University’s One-Act Play Contest. (PARANTHETICALS), a collection of one-acts, received an Honorable Mention for the 2003 Eric Bentley New Play Competition. He was the winner of the 1997 Paul Green Playwrights Prize for A WINTER BEAUTY, which was also chosen the winner of the SNAP!fest Competition by Snap Productions in Omaha, NE. Reviewing the NY production, Backstage said, "His ability to create rich, believable characters and sharp, funny dialogue makes for a very special play...a strong new Off- Broadway voice." BLIND CORNER was a 2003 finalist for the Julie Harris Playwriting Award, and a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Conference 2002. ALPHAGIRLS, a children’s musical, with music and lyrics by Bob McDowell, was a finalist for both the 2003 Richard Rodgers Award and the 2003 Jackie White Memorial Children’s Playwriting Contest. He also authored the school text DISCOVERING GENRE: DRAMA, published in 2008 by Prestwick House.
Simone Harrison (Actor, Singer, Songwriter, Consultant)
A New York native that attributes her arts education and experience to the concrete jungle itself. As a graduate of N.Y.’s H.S. of Music & Art and Sarah Lawrence College, her artistic journey has led her to Nationwide Tours, Indie Record Labels, Off-Broadway, Webisodes and more. She has also worked closely with director Don Scardino behind the scenes on the hit show 30 Rock. Her favorite roles include Stormy Waver (Fishbowl/dir.Chris Henry), Grace (Mouse Cookie/dir. Kevin Del Aguila), Alice (Shakespeare’s Henry V with Rebellious Subjects), and Peaches (Limited Engagement/Short Cutz I). Simone’s work can also be heard at cdbaby.com/cd/simone and Voice123.com/simoneharrison
Working with TAPT has given her the opportunity to think outside the box and to have fun on a playground where there are no limits.
Keith Christiansen (Writer, Educator, Grant Writer)
Keith Christiansen is writer of short stories and monologues, he is an English and Culinary Arts Teacher at a public Middle School in Brooklyn, New York. He is originally from the New York area and has been a successful grant writer for the past several years and has been the recipient of multiple educational fellowships, including the 2008-2010 Teacher's Network Leadership Institute Fellowship and was selected by a foundation to study traditional and organic farming techniques in a town of 20 people in rural France.
His latest project is retelling the story of his mother hiding her identity as a Jew in Brooklyn during World War II. Keith's writing, when it's good, is funny and tragic.
Executive Team
TAPT(The Artists' Playground Theatre) is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of TAPT must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Jeffrey Hardy (Lawyer, Actor)
Trained at LAMDA. Theatre: Hamlet - Horatio, The Tempest – Ferdinand, As You Like It – Orlando, The Merchant of Venice – Solanio , Macbeth – Malcolm / Porter , The Importance of Being Earnest – Algernon / Jack, Guys and Dolls – Society Max , Forty Years On – Head Boy, Season’s Greetings – Clive, Lady Day – Robert, Semi-Monde, A Tale of Two Cities, Harlequinade - Tom, The Browning Version – Peter , The Young Idea, Bitter Sweet – Captain von Lutte, Ways and Means – Toby, Shadows of the Evening – George, Betrayal – Robert, On The Rocks – Lord Doomsday. Television: The Dancing Years, Tenko, Escape - Into Thin Air, The Case of the Frightened Lady, Travelling Man, Drummonds, Butterfly Island, Fire, Medivac, Pacific Drive, Little White Lies, Rough Diamonds, The Starter Wife Film: Surrender in Paradise, Exploding Shadows, Now Voyager, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, All God’s Creatures.
Kudos to this company who works as if they've been around for years! This speaks of the experience of their leadership. “
Paul Singleton,
Actor, Directo
Jessica Beaudry (Actress, Make-up artist/Consultant)
Jessica Beaudry is excited to be the newest member of the TAPT Creative Advisory Team. She graduated from Kent State University with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Minor PR in 2008. Actress, singer, makeup artist, skincare expert, “aspiring” writer, lover-of-all-things-theatre by night, during the daylight hours Jessica works for Clinique Corporate. She also teaches Imaging Classes with casting director, Pat McCorkle, using her combination of makeup and skin care expertise, combined with her working experience in theatre and film, to offer a refreshing and honest take on the Actor's Image in auditions. She understands what it takes to not only act the part, but LOOK it, as well. Off-Broadway Credits: Way to Heaven (NY Times Critics’ Pick at Repertorio Espanol). NY Credits: Make Mine 3, 6, 9! (TAPT Staged Reading at The Player’s Club), World of Tomorrow (TAPT Staged Reading at The Player’s Club), Forbidden Office (Secret Theatre). Regional Credits: Hermia in Midsummer Night's Dream (Ohio Shakespeare Festival), Ensemble in Jesus Christ Superstar (Porthouse Theatre) and Ensemble/Luisa U/S in NINE (Cain Park).Additional Credits: Dorcas in The Winter's Tale, Lampito in Lysistrata, Eileen in Wonderful Town and Fraulein Kost in Cabaret. Industrials: Hyperpigmentation (Clinique). Thank you to her family, the Positive Palace and her Big Fork for all their love and support on this journey called Life.
