The Company

Click on any of the names below to learn more.

Writer/Director

Jon Levin
(Director/Adaptor)

Jon Levin is co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Sinking Ship Productions. He also sometimes performs at Puppet Playlist.

Recent directing credits include Powerhouse, at the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Ensemble) and There Will Come Soft Rains, which he adapted and directed at FringeNYC 2008 (FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Direction). The play was extended and moved to the Barrow Street Theater for the FringeNYC Encore Series. Additional directing credits include The Selkie for Urban Stages touring Outreach Program and Tales from the Wind and the Sun as part of Metropolitan Playhouse’s Children’s Theater. This past summer, Jon was a participant at the Eugune O’Neill Puppetry Conference and has studied with Eric Bass at the Sandglass Summer Puppetry Intensive at the University of Connecticut. Jon graduated with Honors from Oberlin College, with majors in theater and neuroscience.

Josh Luxenberg
(Producer, Production Stage Manager)

Josh Luxenberg is co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Sinking Ship Productions and a Brooklyn-based writer and director. He wrote and produced Powerhouse, which premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2009 (FringeNYC Excellence Award for Outstanding Ensemble) and produced There Will Come Soft Rains, which he produced at FringeNYC in 2008.

Josh has worked as the assistant director, with director David Schweizer, on several productions, including Paper Mill Playhouse’s The Importance of Being Earnest, with Lynn Redgrave, Tony Kushner’s Caroline, Or Change at Baltimore Centerstage and These Shining Lives (world premiere, Centerstage). He assisted Donald Hicken on The Turn of the Screw (Everyman Theatre). He has also worked in the writers office of HBO’s The Wire. Josh is an alum of the Baltimore School for the Arts, where he studied acting, and of Oberlin College where he could at any given moment be found directing, producing and occasionally writing.

Cast

Andrew Broaddus
(Machine Head)

Andrew Broaddus appeared as The Machine in Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains and has created original dance pieces for two Puppet Playlists. He is a Jersey boy who dances in NYC. He graduated from Oberlin College. He moonlights among circus folk, and has not yet become a guitar playing Tokyo gigolo.

Jesse Garrison
(Bobby/Machine)

Jesse Garrison has performed with Sinking Ship in both There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse. He is an actor and multi-media artist based in New York, where he moved after graduating from Oberlin College. At Oberlin, he performed in numerous productions including The Pillowman (Tupolski), Major Barbara (Cusins), Line (Dolan) and Rhinoceros (Dudard). New York credits include There Will Come Soft Rains (Man, Machine), King Lear (Burgundy, various roles), One Fat Day In Babylon (Parritt), FourPlay (Maurice), Ivanov (Lvov), Wanderlust (B), Tales of the Wind and the Sun (Advisor to the King, Puppeteer), Dorm Stories (David), Tetherfop (Stephen), Lost Highway (Video Assistant, various roles). As a filmmaker and video artist, he has shot and edited music videos, performance art, video designed several FringeNYC shows and directed a post-apocalyptic feature. He is honored to be a part of Powerhouse and would like to thank his incredible collaborators, parents, friends and anyone else deserving thanks.

Lisa Maley
(Machine, "Soft Rains" Ensemble)

Lisa Maley performed in Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains. She graduated from Oberlin in May 2008 with a B.A. in Theater. Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Marisol, Far Away (Joan), and the premiere of Examined Man Theatre's The Poison Project (Caroline). British American Drama Academy in London: the Bad Angel in Dr. Faustus. Oberlin credits include Old Times (Kate) and Far Away (Joan), the latter directed by Sinking Ship co-artistic director Josh Luxenberg, and several shows directed by SSP's other artistic director, Jon Levin: The General of Hot Desire (Eve), The Pillowman (Little Jesus), and the original workshop production of There Will Come Soft Rains. Lisa's play The Mad Ones was produced at Oberlin.

Clare McNulty
(Trurl Voice & Puppeteer "Soft Rains" Ensemble)

Clare McNulty has performed with Sinking Ship in both There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse (as Mitzi Scott). She graduated with Highest Honors from Oberlin College in 2007. Regionally, she has performed with the Cutting Ball Theatre Company, Hapgood Theatre Company, African American Shakespeare Company, and the SFSU Greenlight Project. Her NYC credits include There Will Come Soft Rains (FringeNYC, Sinking Ship Productions), Dorm Stories (4th Meal Productions), 15 Minutes of Fame (Access Theatre), and Surrender (International WOW Company, Drama Desk Nom.).

Joshua Morris
(Bassist, Machine)

Joshua Morris has worked with Sinking Ship as a performer and composer for There Will Come Soft Rains and as Music Director, Sound Designer and as a writer for Powerhouse.

Josh is from Louisville, Kentucky. An Oberlin alum, he studied composition with Dr. Randolph Coleman and Dr. Lewis Nielson, and at Butler University studied with Michael Schelle. His compositions are often intermingled with other disciplines to make a music that must be seen and dance that must be heard. His work has been performed in several nations by numerous ensembles, from the Nouvelle Ensemble Musique in Canada to the Oberlin Orchestra to an Irish folk group in Dublin. He is a founding member of Ensemble 48, a contemporary music ensemble based in Indianapolis. He has also performed with the Rebellious Subjects Shakespeare. He has received numerous awards and honors, including membership with the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

Mary Notari
(Klapaucius Voice & Puppeteer)

Mary Notari voiced and manipulated the puppet Klapaucius in Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains. She graduated with a B.A. in Theater from Oberlin College, where she appeared in Travesties (Nadya), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Capulet), and Top Girls (Pope Joan/Louise). She has also studied at the Moscow Art Theatre Studio. Mary is honored to be working with alongside her beloved classmates once again.

Kendall Rileigh
(Machine, "Soft Rains" Ensemble)

Kendall Rileigh performed as part of the Machine and the ensemble in the "Soft Rains" segment of Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains.

National Tours: Great Expectations, Charlotte's Web. NY: The Tempest, The Three Sisters, Sex & Violence, A Piece of My Heart, Spartacus, The Melting Pot, The Revenants. Regional: Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard, The Miss Firecracker Contest, The Lonesome West, Sonnets for an Old Century, Antigone. Training: Duke University (Phi Beta Kappa); Moscow Art Theatre; NY Circus Arts, Streb Lab. Member: AEA, SAG, AFTRA. Kendall also enjoys writing; five of her plays have been produced in NY and regionally. Many thanks to the Sinking Ship team!

Carolyn Usanis
(Machine)

Carolyn Usanis performed in Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains. She graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Performance between Theater and Dance. Regional: Thyestes, Off the Map, A Night on Broadway. Oberlin: West Side Story, Haiku, Women and Wallace, A Unified Theory of Nothing. Oberlin film: Flatbed Longing, Significant Other, Base of the Hill, Between the Lines. Dance training: Oberlin College, American Dance Festival, North Carolina School of the Arts, North Carolina Dance Institute, Movement Research, Broadway Dance Project. Theater training: Oberlin College, Interlochen Center for the Arts, North Carolina Theater Summer Theater Arts School (STAS), North Carolina Governor's School. Carolyn produced and directed an evening-length dance performance of her own original choreography, Between.

Eric Wright
(Puppeteer)

Eric Wright has performed with Sinking Ship in There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse (for which he also designed and built the puppets). He also frequently appears in Puppet Playlist.

His other puppetry performances include: The Culture Project’s The Cat Who Went to Heaven, Dan Hurlin’s Disfarmer (St. Ann’s Warehouse) and Hiroshima Maiden (St. Ann’s Warehouse); Basil Twist’s La Bella Dormente nel Bosco (Lincoln Center) and Petruska (Lincoln Center); Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly (Metropolitan Opera); Mabou Mines’ Peter & Wendy (Arena Stage); Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty (Art Basel Miami) with Philip Huber; Erin Orr’s Savage Nursery (HERE); Lake Simons’ What's Inside the Egg (HERE) and Alice's Adventures in Wonderful (HERE). He can be seen on PBS’s SeeMore's Playhouse. Occasionally Mr. Wright performs his solo pieces, Taps, Caveman v. Blender, and Clementine. He is currently in rehearsal for Compulsion at Yale Rep, starring Mandy Patinkin, and directed by Oskar Eustis.

Mr. Wright’s design and construction credits include: Hamlet (The Public); TheaterWorks U.S.A.’s Seussical: The Musical, and The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks; Hiroshima Maiden, Animal Farm: The Musical (Synapse Prod.), and most recently, Christopher Williams’ The Golden Legend (DTW). He works with Emily DeCola and Michael Schupbach as part of The Puppet Kitchen, LLC, a puppet and specialty prop design and construction studio in the East Village.

Production Team

Kate J. Cudworth
(Barrow Street Theater Stage Manager)

Kate J. Cudworth is Sinking Ship's resident stage manager. She has worked on the FringeNYC Encore presentations of both There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse. She also stage manages most Puppet Playlist performances.

Off-Broadway: [title of show]. Other NY Credits: Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Manhattan School of Music; Pagliacci, The Impresario, Orpheus in the Underworld with Bronx Opera Co.; LINES, NY Musical Theatre Festival; RENT, National Tour '07-'08. Readings with the Vineyard Theatre, America-in-Play, et al. Regional: Four seasons with Barrington Stage Co., including Freud's Last Session, Underneath the Lintel, Trumbo, and Follies; Breakfast Lunch & Dinner, Fences, I am My Own Wife at Hartford Stage. Oberlin graduate and proud member AEA.

Jesse Garrison
(Video Designer)

Jesse Garrison has performed with Sinking Ship in both There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse. He is an actor and multi-media artist based in New York, where he moved after graduating from Oberlin College. At Oberlin, he performed in numerous productions including The Pillowman (Tupolski), Major Barbara (Cusins), Line (Dolan) and Rhinoceros (Dudard). New York credits include There Will Come Soft Rains (Man, Machine), King Lear (Burgundy, various roles), One Fat Day In Babylon (Parritt), FourPlay (Maurice), Ivanov (Lvov), Wanderlust (B), Tales of the Wind and the Sun (Advisor to the King, Puppeteer), Dorm Stories (David), Tetherfop (Stephen), Lost Highway (Video Assistant, various roles). As a filmmaker and video artist, he has shot and edited music videos, performance art, video designed several FringeNYC shows and directed a post-apocalyptic feature. He is honored to be a part of Powerhouse and would like to thank his incredible collaborators, parents, friends and anyone else deserving thanks.

Micheline Heal
(New School Theater Stage Manager)

Micheline Heal was the stage manager at the New School Theater for Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains.

Farah Ballentine Joyner
(Puppet & Scenic Design and Realization)

Farah Ballentine Joyner designed and built the sets and puppets for Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains. She is an Oberlin graduate and Chicago-based visual artist from Boston, MA. She has worked with the Bailiwick Repertory Theater (Bare), Experimental Theatre Chicago, and Dog & Pony Theater (As Told by the Vivian Girls). Other design credits: Far Away, This is Our Youth, The Crane Wife (an experimental opera), the mix tape philosophies of m. black (a world premiere), Border Edge Home, Streamers, Don Juan in Chicago (RPTE, Chicago), A Dream Play, (The Mill, Chicago).

In addition to mounting numerous theatre, dance and opera productions as part of Oberlin College's Theatre and Dance Program, her scenic work has been seen at the Berkshire Theatre Festival (It Goes Without Saying, Misanthrope, Eugene's Home, The Miracle Worker, Heartbreak House, Floyd Collins, Siddhartha) and Barrington Stage Co. (Burnt Part Boys (a world premier musical), The Human Comedy, Fame). Farah is the composer/author of the ongoing collection, Untitled: a series of non-plays (explorations in/of the theatrical form). She is currently studying visual art and audio soundscapes in Chicago.

Mike McGee
(Lighting Design)

Mike McGee designed the lights for Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains. He is a theatrical lighting designer and electrician who graduated from Oberlin College. He has designed lighting for Girl Talk, Beach House, The Brightblack Morning Light, Man Man, Of Montreal, MGMT, Matt & Kim, No Age, Explosions in the Sky, Aa, MEN (Members of Le Tigre), Animal Collective, Seth Rudetsky, and Gallagher. In the opera world Mike has worked as a programmer and electrician for the U.S. premier of the Lost Highway opera at both Oberlin College and Columbia University. He spent the summers of 2007 and 2008 as an electrician for the Des Moines Metro Opera company. New York: Dorm Stories, Jimminy in the City, and From the Inside Out. He currently works in Oberlin as the Dance Department's Lighting Designer/Production Manager.

Joshua Morris
(Composer)

Joshua Morris has worked with Sinking Ship as a performer and composer for There Will Come Soft Rains and as Music Director, Sound Designer and as a writer for Powerhouse.

Josh is from Louisville, Kentucky. An Oberlin alum, he studied composition with Dr. Randolph Coleman and Dr. Lewis Nielson, and at Butler University studied with Michael Schelle. His compositions are often intermingled with other disciplines to make a music that must be seen and dance that must be heard. His work has been performed in several nations by numerous ensembles, from the Nouvelle Ensemble Musique in Canada to the Oberlin Orchestra to an Irish folk group in Dublin. He is a founding member of Ensemble 48, a contemporary music ensemble based in Indianapolis. He has also performed with the Rebellious Subjects Shakespeare. He has received numerous awards and honors, including membership with the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

Spencer Russell
(Sound & Video Design)

Spencer Russell has worked with Sinking Ship on both There Will Come Soft Rains (sound and video design) and Powerhouse (co-sound designer for the FringeNYC Encore presentation).

Spencer is a freelance electrical engineer, multimedia designer, and performer who works with creative people in New York to create new works in theatre, music, dance, and studio art. In addition to his own electro-acoustic music, Spencer plays upright bass with the experimental avant-rock ensemble Capillary Action, who recently returned from a 4-month European tour.

Lara Terrell
(Barrow Street Theater Lighting Design)

Lara Terrell recreated Mike McGee's lighting design for the FringeNYC Encore presentation of Sinking Ship's There Will Come Soft Rains.

Regional: Twelfth Night, A Christmas Carol, The Price and Greater Tuna (Tri-State Actors Theater). Educational: Durang! Durang!, Homage That Follows, Dance Repertory Theater (Southwestern University). Assistant Light Design: All's Well That Ends Well (Zack Scott Theatre), Hair and Playhouse Creatures (Southwestern University).

Peiyi Wong
(Costume Design)

Peiyi Wong designed costumes for Sinking Ship's productions There Will Come Soft Rains and Powerhouse.

Peiyi is a Brooklyn-based theater artist and designer for theater/film. Her work has appeared at various venues in New York City including HERE Arts Center, The Ontological Theater, Mabou Mines’ Toronado Space, The Chocolate Factory, Bushwick Starr, The Brick Theater, and 303 Bond. She was a recipient of the Marvin Sims Fellowship to attend the Kennedy Center Summer Intensive for Scene Design in 2005. She holds a BA in English and Visual Arts from Columbia University and is an associate member of the theater company Polybe + Seats.