ABOUT "A" TRAIN
ANNIE TORSIGLIERI (she/her) -
Annie’s Broadway credits include Top Girls, Parade, Blood Brothers and Miss Saigon. She also performed in the National Tour of Les Misérables (as Fantine) and extensively Off-Broadway & Regionally including at Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theater, The Huntington, Playmakers Rep, Northern Stage, Great Lakes Theater Festival and more. Annie is the recipient of Back Stage West/Drama Logue and Garland Awards for her performance in The Heiress (Berkeley Rep), the NH Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her titular role in The Drowsy Chaperone (New London Barn Playhouse) and a Santa Barbara Independent Award for Stupid F*ing Bird (as Emma, Elements Theater Collective). Her play, "A" TRAIN, was awarded both Best Production and Best Encore at the United Solo Festival in NYC, and a Santa Barbara Independent Award. Other recent favorite roles include Tracey in Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Donna in Mamma Mia! (both Northern Stage), Shakespeare’s Falstaff (The Death of Kings) and Rose (Gypsy). Annie is a Professor and the Director of BFA Acting at UCSB and founder of AMPLIFY, a theater initiative to support underrepresented voices. Annie’s received both a Fox Fellowship and Hellman Family Fund Fellowship, and is a graduate of Princeton University and the Juilliard Drama Division.
BRAD CARROLL - Composer
Brad Carroll is a recognized regional theatre director, music director, and composer whose work has taken him all over the world. He is the composer of Lend Me A Tenor, The Musical, (Gielgud Theatre, London, 2011), Christmas is Here Again (in association with Renegade Animation and PCPA Theaterfest. Other produced works include Amelia Lost (librettist); A Christmas Carol: On The Air (composer/co-author); Cio Cio San (composer/arranger); Christmas Is… A Musical Memory. Such prestigious ensembles as the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Pops have performed Brad’s musical arrangements and orchestrations. He is currently Resident Artist/Artistic Associate for the Pacific Conservatory Theatre (PCPA) in Santa Maria, CA.
RISA BRAININ (she/her) - Director
Risa is an award-winning director and the Founder/Artistic Director of the groundbreaking new play development program LAUNCH PAD at UC Santa Barbara where “A” Train was originally developed. She served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Associate Artistic Director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Resident Director at the Guthrie Theater. Other directorial credits include plays at American Players Theatre, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Clarence Brown Theatre, Commonweal Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Elements Theatre Collective, Ensemble Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, History Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Illusion Theatre, Kansas City Actors' Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mixed Blood, New Harmony Project, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Playmakers Repertory Company, Portland Stage Company, Red Bull Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Skylight Theatre, Syracuse Stage and TheatreSquared. She directed the premiere of Bob Stromberg’s That Wonder Boy in Minneapolis and the United Solo Festival in NY (WINNER: United Solo Festival and Backstage Award, Best One Man Show and Best Direction - 2015) and is so proud to be a part of Annie Torsiglieri's "A" Train. Brainin is a graduate of the Carnegie Mellon Drama Program.
www.risabrainin.com
MICHAEL KLAERS - Production DesignerRegional credits include Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Guthrie Theater, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Syracuse Stage, and Indiana Repertory Theatre. Klaers is the lighting designer and production manager for the hit show Triple Espresso which has played in over 60 cities in the US, Canada and Europe.
KERI BOWERS -
Keri is a long-time autism advocate, filmmaker, speaker, writer, and program designer/facilitator. Co-founder of The Art of Autism; owner of Normal Films. Keri is a featured writer for Autism Asperger’s Digest Magazine. Keri and The Art of Autism are honored to feature the works of AoA collaborating artists in the “A” Train. The Art of Autism is an international non-profit resource for autistic artists, poets, bloggers and other creatives.Art of Autism​Normal Films