CARolyn Halpert Artist-in-residence program
Every season we select one to two artists for a year-long residency with Abingdon. The Carolyn Halpert Artist in Residence program aims to nurture emerging artists and new work offering them mentorship and the opportunity to continue further exploration of their work.
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2024-2025 Artist in residence
Kaitlyn Wigmore
We are thrilled to welcome Kaitlyn Wigmore as Abingdon Theatre Company’s inaugural photographer-in-residence for our 32nd season, our bravest season yet.
Kaitlyn Wigmore is a multidisciplinary artist in her senior year at NYU Tisch. Her primary mediums are photography and film. Kaitlyn's work revolves around creating pieces at the intersection of fine art, documentary, and surrealism.
2023-2024 Artists in residence
Matt Webster
Matt Webster is a New York City based actor and writer. Matt performed on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre in DGF Toasts: Stephen Schwartz. In addition to singing in the show, Matt contributed the vocal arrangements. Matt has been seen onstage as Glad Hand in the Broadway Tour of West Side Story and won Best Actor for his portrayal of Johnny Pope in A Hatful of Rain (BroadwayWorld). In 2019, Matt portrayed the role of Derek in the award-winning, world premiere of his new play BACK, which is now being turned into a television series. The pilot episode won Best TV Script at the 2022 Santa Barbara International Film Fest. In addition to BACK, Matt’s plays and musicals include: Kingdom Come (winner Best Musical at the Downtown Urban Theatre Fest), Jay and the Contest (winner Risk Theatre Playwriting Award), Reveries, and Alex Fox: American Hero. With his frequent collaborator Taylor Ferrera, Matt has co-written: a new adaptation of Cinderella; Democracy, Day 1; County Fair – A Country Hits Musical; Tessa Takes a Turn; Betty Zane; and Propaganda! The Musical - which made its international debut at the Gaetnerplatz Theatre in Munich, Germany. In 2020, it was released as a podcast musical, featuring a full sound design, complete orchestra, and a cast filled with Broadway stars. In the summer of 2021, Matt (along with his collaborator, Taylor) won the prestigious Webby Award for Best Podcast Writing for Propaganda, the Podcast Musical. Matt co-owns the production company Propaganda Theatricals, is a founding member of the Magic Forest Theatre Company, and teaches acting and text analysis at The New York Film Academy, where he also serves as Resident Playwright. Matt is a Johnny Mercer Award Winner and received his BFA in Acting from West Virginia University where he was named the Outstanding Graduate from the College of Creative Arts. www.TheOtherMattWebster.com
Cris eli blak
Cris Eli Blak is an emerging proud Black playwright. His work has been produced Off-Broadway and around the country; on university stages (Columbia University, Northwestern University, New York University); as well as in London, Australia, Ireland, and Canada. He is the winner of the inaugural Black Broadway Men Playwriting Initiative and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company's inaugural winner of the Muse of Fire BIPOC Playwriting Festival. He has been the artist in residence at the State University of New York - Oswego, and the recipient of the inaugural Emerging Playwrights Fellowship from The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre. He was a resident playwright with Fosters Theatrical Artists Residency, Paterson Performing Arts Development Council and La Lengua Teatro en Español/AlterTheater Ensemble; the recipient of the Michael Bradford Residency from Quick Silver Theatre Company; and was in the inaugural class of fellows for the Black Theatre Coalition. His work has been published by Smith & Kraus, Inc., YOUTHPlays, Applause Books, New World Theatre, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, and in the Black Theatre Review.
2022-2023 Artists in residence
Pierre Marais
Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Pierre Marais is an award-winning short film director and actor based out of NYC. As a Broadway performer himself, most recently in Aladdin The Musical, dance has been a cornerstone of his film work and he has defined his style largely through movement. Over the past year alone, Pierre’s films have garnered over 50 selections from different film festivals across the globe. Most notably, his short film, ‘As Apple Pie’ has earned him a selection as Best Young Filmmaker in the Cannes World Film Festival. Narratively, Pierre serves as a director and cinematographer for ‘For The Boys,’ a popular and award-winning web-series streaming on SlayTV. He also works as a director for Broadstream, a new online streaming platform. Most recently as a director, Pierre’s documentary, ‘Ensemble’ was released on Broadway on Demand; a reframing of the recorded sessions that created the musical “A Chorus Line” through the lens of the pandemic. As an actor, he is currently starring in ‘Anne of Green Gables,’ a new musical adaption of the classic story at Goodspeed Opera House.
REynaldo Piniella
Reynaldo Piniella is an actor, writer, activist and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. In 2021, he was in The Acting Company of two Broadway shows at the same time - Thoughts of a Colored Man and Trouble in Mind. His Off-Broadway acting credits include The Death of the Last Black Man..., Venus (Signature), The Skin of Our Teeth (TFANA), Lockdown (Rattlestick), The Space Between the Letters (The Public/UTR), and The Best of Theatreworks (Working Theater). Regional acting credits include work at Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, O'Neill, Sundance Theatre Lab and Cleveland Play House. As a playwright, his work includes Black Doves (Thomas Barbour award for Playwriting), Real Life RPG (commissioned by Baltimore Center Stage, produced by San Diego Rep, Shakesqueer Theater Company and Pioneer Theater Guild), No Shade (produced by the Lee Strasberg Institute at NYU Tisch), I'm Old School (produced by Single Carrot Theater) and Black and Blue (Ars Nova's ANT Fest.) He received the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship from Theatre Communications Group to develop a bilingual English-Spanish Hamlet with the Classical Theatre of Harlem. He is a current member of All for One Theater's Solo Collective and is an alum of The Civilians' R&D Group. He is the inaugural recipient of the All Stars Project's Fellowship for Young Artists of Color, a FREEdom Fellow at the Weeksville Heritage Center and has received residencies from The Public Theater's Shakespeare Initiative and HB Studio.
2021-2022 Artists in Residence
CHristine Toy Johnson
Christine Toy Johnson is an award-winning writer, actor, director and advocate for inclusion. Her written works have been produced and/or developed by the Roundabout, Village Theatre, Ars Nova, Barrow Group, Prospect Theatre, Weston Playhouse, O’Neill, Women’s Theatre Festival, CAP 21, Greater Boston Stage Company, Abingdon Theatre Company, Towne Street theatre and more are included in the Library of Congress’s Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection (Playwrights Division). She is an alum of the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop, was a 2016 fellow of The Writers Lab (supported by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Oprah Winfrey), serves as a Treasurer of the Dramatists Guild and is host of the Guild’s podcast “Talkback” on Broadway Podcast Network. As an actor, Christine has appeared extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in regional theatres across the country and nearly 100 television and film appearances including recurring guest star roles on Marvel’s “Iron Fist,” “Bull,” “The Americnas,” “You,” “Law and Order: SVU” and more. She is on”extended intermission” from the North American tour of Come from Away. Rosetta LeNoire, JACL, Asian American Arts Alliance, Obie awards for advocacy in diversity and inclusion. www.christinetoyjohnson.com
Ilda Mason
Ilda Mason was born and raised in Panamá where she began her acting career with productions such as Peter Pan (Peter Pan), The Beauty and the Beast, A Chorus Line (Bebe) and Hello Dolly (Minnie) among others. She was a professional dancer on Panamá’s Dancing with the Stars (Season 2 Champion. Her favorite credits in the U.S. include the Broadway revival of West Side Story, On Your Feet! (National Tour), West Side Story (Paper Mill Playhouse, Signature Theatre), Cinderella (National Tour), and Legally Blonde (International Tour). She can be seen as Luz in the upcoming Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story coming to theatres in 2021.
Matthew mclachlan
Matthew McLachlan is a Dramatist Guild Member and award-winning playwright born in Scotland and based in New York City. His plays include: The Demand of Avarice, This God Damn House, Jack & Melissa, Orion, and The Place We Are Meant to Be, among others. His plays have been presented by Nylon Fusion, The NOW Collective, The Farm Theater, The PIT, Thespis Theater Festival, New Works Festival, The Midnight Factory and performed regionally in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Wyoming, & Florida. He is a resident playwright for The Midnight Factory, a Pulse Ensemble Theatre member, and a Wynn Handman playwright in observance. Other credits include: Nominated for Best Writer of a Web-Series (ADULTish), The Roast of Michael Musto (Head-Writer), & his published works A Collection of One-Acts & Other Things You May or May Not Enjoy and a full-length play Orion are now available on Amazon.
2020-2021 Artists in Residence
Krystle N. Adams
Krystle N. Adams is an actress and playwright born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Her passion for the arts started at the age of five. She started telling stories to her cousins at age 12. Beginning her formal training in theatre and musical theatre at the Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS), Krystle then attended Eastern University. After leaving Eastern, she continued studying musical theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). Five years after AMDA, Krystle took a scene study class with Alex Neil where she started writing. Eleven years later, she is still finding stories to write about! Krystle is a member of the Playwright/Directing Unit (PDU) at the Actors Studio where she has had staged readings of her plays Tarnished Opal and Conversations of Inconvenience. She is an active participant in Suzan Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work at the Public Theatre. She considers Suzan Lori Parks to be her writing mentor. As an actress, Krystle has performed in numerous productions including Hairspray (Motormouth Maybelle), Gypsy (Tessa Tura), The Dining Room (3rd Actress), Or Current Resident (Jill Finch), Fame! (Maybel Washington) and West Side Story (Anita). You can also see her YouTube web series Brooklyn Baby, Jersey Maybe and The Uncomfortable Conversation Inc.
Jenn Susi is a NYC based director and arts educator born and raised in the Bronx! Jenn has been directing and developing work all over NYC including Theatre 54, 13th Street Repertory Theatre, Stay True, an LGBTQ+ Theatre Company, and Nuyorican Poets Cafe where she was a “Best of Fest” winner. Jenn is also a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. In addition to her professional work, she has had the privilege of directing youth artists in the Bronx as well as developing arts programming in NYC public schools for over a decade. Jenn’s mission has always been to combat the marginalization of casting in the theatre; for everyone to see themselves in her stories no matter race, gender, sexuality, or disability and to reflect the human experience in the most truthful way. In these unprecedented times, Jenn continues to explore new platforms for theatrical storytelling and to create and share art in meaningful ways!
Jenn Susi
2019-2020 Artists in Residence
Dolly Sfeir
Dolly Sfeir grew up in Lebanon. She has worked with renowned artists such as Robert Moses and Kate Hutter. Sfeir was awarded a creative residency with Jacob’s Pillow, as well as two choreographic residencies with Mare Nostrum. Her choreography has been presented at numerous stages in NYC such as Alvin Ailey City Theater, Laguardia Performing Arts Center and Actor’s Fund, and was part of numerous festivals such as the McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival, Nuvu Festival, Awakenings and Beginnings, and Bridge for Dance. Sfeir was awarded a College of the Arts Scholarship from CSU Long Beach to recieve her Dance BFA. She is excited to be one of the artists in residence for the new season with Abingdon Theatre Company.
Emma mcglinchey
Emma is from Glasgow, Scotland where she grew up performing and eventually earned her BA Honours in Music from the University of Strathclyde. After a few years of performing in Scotland, she moved to NYC to further her education and in 2015 graduated from the Musical Theatre Conservatory programme at the New York Film Academy. Since graduating, Emma has toured the UK in productions of Aladdin and Dick Whittington, worked for both Disneyland Paris and Disney Cruise Line and she also spent time in China, music directing original musicals across several schools. Her most notable roles to date include ‘Florence’ in Chess and ‘Nettie’ in Carousel, both at the American Theatre of Actors. In 2018, she was honoured to perform in Abingdon Theatre Company’s production of Closer than Ever, honoring Donna Murphy and recently starred along West End and Broadway star, Kelly Ellis, in Movies to Musicals at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Fernanda Hidalgo
Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. Fernanda found her passion for theatre at a young age and tried to find every class and program possible in her hometown. In 2013 she decided to move to the US in order to broaden her performing arts horizons. She attended the New York Film Academy conservatory program for Musical Theatre and Film Acting; in which she studied under Chad Austin, Deidre Goodwin, Michelle Potterf, Nathan Brewer, Kevin Duda, amongst others. She has performed in California and New York City. Her credits include The Wedding Singer, Anything Goes, Bye Bye Birdie, Across the Universe, 13: The Musical, and the original play A Night with the Dead.
KT Thomas
KT is an NYC based Actress and Choreographer. Originally from the UK, KT has an extensive background in theatre, film and dance. KT has trained at Italia Conti Academy Theatre Arts in London, London Studio Centre, and the New York Film Academy. KT has performed in shows like Calamity Jane, Spring Awakening, A Chorus Line, Oliver!, Annie, Once Upon a Mattress, to name a few. KT also for two years played Elphaba at The Gershwin Theatre in the Passport to Broadway’s “For Good” Performance Workshops inspiring young women through the arts. Keen on the ever changing scene of both dance and film, KT created under the direction of Chad Larabee her Tap Documentary “In Rhythm” which has gone on to win awards at film festivals across the US and UK. Coming from a theatrical family background, KT has performed, directed, and choreographed both in the US and in Europe where she always encourages up and coming artists to develop their craft through her masterclasses and workshops. Recently, KT directed and choreographed the 45th Anniversary Gala “Legacy” which involved West End artists, community artists, and young performers in her family’s UK theatre school celebration involving over 150 performers. KT has a particular passion for new works and bringing them to life on stage and screen and loves what a new rehearsal process always creates. A true artist who is never afraid to turn her hand to anything as KT always believes in her motto on life “There is no such word as can’t in the dictionary—only I CAN and I WILL!”
2018-2019 Artists in Residence
Anne-Marie Pietersma
Anne-Marie Pietersma is a NYC-based actress and theatremaker. She recently debuted her one-woman show “Mild to Wild: A Look at Relationships Through Cheese, Beer, Wine, and Musical Theatre” and performs improv and sketch comedy at UCB and the PIT. She has trained at Penn State University, the New York Film Academy, The National Theatre Institute, and her plays “With a Kiss I Dies” and “36 Acres” were featured and workshopped at the Iowa Writers Festival and The O’Neill Theatre Center.
Jonathan Burwell
Originally from Houston, TX, Jonathan moved to New York to attend Marymount Manhattan College and develop a career in arts and entertainment. He has performed original plays at Playfest with the Texas Educational Theatre Association in Austin, Texas, The Festival of New Works: Tisch School of the Arts at NYC, TUTS at The Hobby Center for Performing Arts, and acted with the Houston Tidelanders at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas. he has worked with Opera Oggi New York, as a play respondent for The Arkansas State Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and developed the Theatre Arts Program at The Church Without Walls Summer Enrichment Camp in Houston. He is currently acting in his 11th season with Metropolitan Opera. Appearing in over 45 productions, including company debuts of Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, John Adam’s Nixon in China, and John Adam’s Doctor Atomic. Including over 25 appearances in the companies HD Broadcasts streamed live in over 60 countries and on Great Performances at The Met on PBS. Also starring regularly in Lady L’armour’s Final Bow, at Duane Park. Additionally, he has worked on print and commercial projects with companies like Pepsi, The NFL, Gant, Stella Artois, Bring Change to Mind, The Discovery Channel, Fujifilm, and Jungle Wild Productions.
2017-2018 Artists in Residence
Eliza Bent
A playwright and performer based in Brooklyn, Bent is a New Georges Audrey Residency artist and has been a SPACE on Ryder Farm “Working Farm” resident writer, a MacDowell Colony fellow, a Target Margin Institute Fellow, the recipient of an LMCC Process Space grant, a Bay Area Playwrights Finalist, and an alum of Project Y Playwright’s Group and TerraNova’s Groundbreakers group. Bent is a former senior editor at American Theatre magazine and an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College where she received an MFA in playwriting. Her plays include: One a Clear Day I Can See to Elba (New Ohio’s 2016 ICE Factory), The Beyonce (Breaking String Theatre, 2014 Payne Award for Outstanding Theatrical Event), Blue Wizard/Black Wizard (Incubator Arts Project/Other Forces 2014 festival) and The Hotel Colors (Bushwick Starr, L magazine’s 25 best stage shows of 2013). Hybrid Events: Real Talk/Kip Talk (Abrons 16/17), Toilet Fire (runs at Abrons Arts Center, the Brick and JACK, Time Out New York Critics’ Pick 2015), Karma Kharms (or Yarns by Kharms) (Target Margin 2012 Lab at Bushwick Starr), and Pen Pals Meet (Iranian Theatre Festival at the Brick 2011). As an actor, Eliza has appeared in Celine Song’s Tom & Eliza, directed by Knud Adams, and has voiced a few characters in Pokemon. With Half Straddle: Ancient Lives, Seagull (thinking of you), Football, Burses in New England, and The Knockout Blow. Also, various appearances as Mark Twain (Twain on a Plane, in development) and O’Lynne in Toilet Fire, Fire the Hire, and Asleep at the Wheel.
JOey merlo
Joey is the founder of the nonprofit theatre company, Wolfpack Theatrics. He is an actor and playwright who has worked all over the world including Ghana, where he completed a documentary on the illegality of homosexuality called Voices, and Greece, where he took part in a collaborative residency that focused on creating public art installations and theatre with Athenian activists and students. Recent productions include: The Witch of St. Elmora Street (Access Theatre) and This Boy Cometh to the Mountain (Rough Draft Festival). His play Love of Men Ferocious was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and he has worked with The Lark, Dixon Place and Westport Country Playhouse. His writing has been featured on OUT.com and his poetry has been presented at the Hearts on the Wall, All Boars and Siren Den salons. He currently resides in Washington Heights.
2016-2017 Artists in Residence
Dominique Fishback
A Brooklyn native, and accomplished spoken word poet, playwright and stage actress, Dominique currently stars as “Darlene” in HBO’s critically acclaimed drama series The Deuce. TV Credits: HBO’s Show Me a Hero as “Billie Rowan,” The Affair (Showtime), Blue Bloods (CBS), and Royal Pains (USA). Dominique is currently in production on FOX’s feature film The Hate U Give, which is based on the best-selling young adult novel of the same name. She also recently wrapped production on the leading role of Angel in Jordana Spiro’s Night Comes On, which is due for release in 2018. Additionally, she has toured internationally, with performances at the White House, the United Nations in Switzerland and as part of a TedX Talk. Her groundbreaking original one-woman show, Subverted, was nominated for an Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.
Amy E. Witting
Originally from NJ and now residing in Sunnyside, NY, some of Amy’s plays include The House on the Hill (Atlantic Theater LAUNCH Commission, Kennedy Center MFAPW, Unicorn Theater Workshop Reading). There’s Never a Gavin: The True Story of a Disco Roller Skater (Atlantic Theater Amplified Reading Series, nominated 2016 Weissberger Award), The Midnight Ride of Sean & Lucy (Roundabout Underground Reading Series), A Bad Night (2015 Jerome Emerging Artist Fellowship), Day 392 (Kennedy Center ACTF/NNPN MFAPW, Nominated Susan Smith Blackburn prize). She currently works as a teaching artist with Roundabout Theatre Company, received her MFA at Hunter College and is a member of PIPELINE’S 2016 PlayLab, Mission to (Dit)mars Propulsion Lab, and the Dramatists Guild.