Prints Unedited

Marcia and April celebrate weirdness with songwriter and producer, Jeremiah Fristoe.

A conversation with Chicago-based artist, comedian, and educator, Miguel Angel Rodriguez.

In this episode, April and Jaina return with a new and improved Prints Unedited, and introduce some of the new team members for our Collab24 Devised Theatre Festival.

Joining our host, Jaina Alexander, and her special co-host Vic Melkonyan, are the Founders of BLKLST, the BIPOC created and led mechanism of accountability through transparency and community oversight in the Los Angeles Theatre Community. The three founders, Celia Mandela Rivera, A'raelle Flynn-Bolden, and Tiana Randall-Quant, are all long-time and active members of the LA theatre community. BLKLST's mission is to provide Safety and Equity for all BIPOC creatives and of the intersections we inhabit, in the Los Angeles theatre community by providing agency for L.A. based BIPOC theatremakers so that they can make informed decisions on what predominantly White American Theatres (WAT) they work with.

This episode is part two of our conversation around pushing for Equity and Accountability in LA Theatre through the Lens of Anti-Racism.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Sephra Kolker, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

Joining our host, Jaina Alexander, and her special co-host Vic Melkonyan, are the Founders of BLKLST, the BIPOC created and led mechanism of accountability through transparency and community oversight in the Los Angeles Theatre Community. The three founders, Celia Mandela Rivera, A'raelle Flynn-Bolden, and Tiana Randall-Quant, are all long-time and active members of the LA theatre community. BLKLST's mission is to provide Safety and Equity for all BIPOC creatives and of the intersections we inhabit, in the Los Angeles theatre community by providing agency for L.A. based BIPOC theatremakers so that they can make informed decisions on what predominantly White American Theatres (WAT) they work with.

This episode is part one of our conversation around pushing for Equity and Accountability in LA Theatre through the Lens of Anti-Racism.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Sephra Kolker, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

It is almost the end of 2021, and the Thumbprint Team decided to have a roundtable reflection on the past year: what we loved, what we missed, and what we're looking forward to! This week, April and Jaina sat down with Victoria Melkonyan (Director of Outreach and Education), Emery Lade (Administrative and Education Programming Mentee), Sephra Kolker (Social Media Mentee), and Lauren Heyboer (ProductionAssistant Mentee). Join our conversation and hear about all the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the past year, and what we're excited for in the new one!

Victoria Melkonyan is a West Asian artist based in California. Through the lens of actor, director, and writer, Victoria actively pursues, uplifts, and creates stories for and by People of the Global Majority. They are an alumnus of California State University, Long Beach with a BA in Theatre Performance and have studied with the SITI Company. Through both their art and activism, they hope to increase visibility for SWANA (MENA) and all who are absent from the mainstream in various performance/storytelling mediums. From the very beginning of their artistic career and education, Victoria has made it a point to face systemic issues head on and embraced the art of calling in and calling to action in everything that they do. They are very excited by the awakenings happening currently between the masses and hope to aid in bringing a sense of revolution and radicalization to the spaces they occupy.

Emery Lade (they/them) is a theatre artist and writer based in the midwest. They've done everything from acting to lighting design to producing, and they are a proud multi-hyphenate creator. Their most recent play, Henry and Mae Kill a Cat, was produced in April by their alma mater, Western Illinois University. You can also read their poetry in Touchstone Literary Magazine.

Sephra Kolker (she/her/hers) Currently located in the Southern Plains, Sephra is a multi-hyphenate human being, whose most recent credit includes the role of Laura in Amelia, Once More. Her theatrical interests lie in exploring South-Asian American theatre. Outside of theatre, she enjoys cooking, watching classic television shows, writing in her planner, and podcasting. She recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma with degrees in Public/Nonprofit Administration and Environmental Design. Sephra is excited to be working with Thumbprint Studios, and is eager to learn more about digital content creation, while utilizing her skills to create content that is meaningful and impactful.

Lauren Heyboer is a theatre maker currently based in Michigan. With degrees in theatre, English literature, and writing, she has worked at several theatres in her area as an actor, dramaturg, and ASM. Passionate about vitality and theatre for social change, she is currently working on The Water Project, an original collaborative piece about local water crises and community engagement. Lauren works as a proofreader of scripts and audiobooks and plans to pursue a graduate degree in dramaturgy.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Emery Ann, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

This week, we sat down with Lee Nishri-Howitt to talk about the return to in-person classes in higher education, and what it means for students and faculty alike. Lee is an Assistant Professor of voice, speech, and accents at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, as well as a public speaking instructor at Harvard University. He also teaches voice and accents at Emerson College and Boston University. Lee has served as a voice, accent, and text coach all over Boston, in theaters such as The American Repertory Theater, Huntington Stage Company, New Repertory Theater, SpeakEasy Stage Company, and others. Originally from Israel, Lee is a graduate of the masters program in vocal pedagogy at the American Repertory Theater Institute at Harvard, and is also a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Emery Ann, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

Myra Su is a storyteller, puppeteer, and puppet maker based in Chicago. Her primary medium is shadow puppetry but her work also includes experimentations with crankies, video, and a brief stint with taxidermy. Most recently, she was a recipient of a Handmade Puppet Dreams 2020 Quarantine Film Micro-Commission grant. Her short puppet film, Goodnight Shadow, debuted in February 2021 and was made under lockdown conditions. She is currently teaching puppetry workshops online as well as designing puppets for an upcoming music video. In addition to her independent work, she is a touring performer with Manual Cinema, with performances worldwide. She is also a co-curator for a quarterly puppet slam, "Nasty, Brutish & Short."

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Emery Ann, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

Alec Lichtenberg is an embodied storyteller, educator, and youth advocate based in New York City (Lenapehoking). He comes from German Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry and aims to forward racial equity and social justice through his work. Growing in a loving home, Alec was medicated against his will for ADHD as a child. Later, he found tools of self-connection and repair by studying dance/storytelling, particularly forms of the African Diaspora, with master teachers Chris Walker, Dohee Lee, Anna Halprin, and Reverend Nafisa Sharriff.

As an artist/researcher, Alec is interested in exploring perspectives on the intelligence of bodies, including how we grieve, connect, remember, imagine and act. He believes in the emergent questions that young people possess and is a committed advocate for making creative, safer spaces for their self-development, expression, and choice-making. Alec has taught extensively in jails, juvenile detention, psychiatric, and hospital settings in New York City and internationally. He holds a master’s degree in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Emery Ann, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

We are delighted to have Sean Cook on the show with us today! Sean joins us from L.A. where he has worked and studied for over 13 years. He trained at The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, Lesly Kahn and Company, Sam Christensen Studios, John Rosenfeld Studios, and was an associate instructor at L.A. On-Camera Training Center. Sean has worked with numerous celebrity actors and directors including; Antonio Banderas, Jimmi Simpson, Steve Zahn, Seth MacFarlane, and Jon Favreau. He is represented by Unified Management, The Wayne Agency, and Brick-House Talent. Mr. Cook earned an MFA in Performance Pedagogy from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently teaching out of Sean Cook Studio. In addition to producing, directing, and acting, Sean also works as an Intimacy Coach for set and stage. He is a member of the Michael Chekhov Association, the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and has trained extensively with Theatrical Intimacy Education. He has recently opened the world premiere of Unsung and Julian the Humble by Rosalind Reynolds, as well as the world premiere of Priestess of the Witch Goddess at the Sylvia Center for the Arts in Bellingham, Washington as a Co-Director. The performances were live-streamed for audiences using a seven-camera setup and live edit. Sean is teaching now at AMDA in the Acting for Camera department within the BFA Acting program.

This episode was produced on the unceded ancestral territory of the Kiikaapoi, Peoria, Bodéwadmiakiwen, and Miami. This episode was edited by Emery Lade, with original intro and outro music by Marc Young.

This week we sit down with Los Angeles based Director & Producer Jessica Hanna to discuss her process of saying “F*ck it! Let’s try.”

Jessica Hanna is a Los Angeles based Director & Producer with a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is a member of The Kilroys, an activist artists group working for gender parity in the American Theatre. She was an Artist in Residence at Thymele Arts in 2019. She has trained with The SITI Co. and performed with them in 2010 & 2013 at The Getty Villa. She is currently the Chair of The SITI Co.’s Board. She Co-Founded Bootleg Theater and was it's Producing & Managing Director for 12 years. She worked with Roger Guenveur Smith on RODNEY KING. She helped create the Hope On Stage playwriting prize in collaboration with Cornell and Notre Dame Universities. She created the Solo Queens Festival that has featured 15 women solo performers in 2 years.

Directing credits include: Lisa Dring's DEATH PLAY at Circle X Theatre, Brandon Baruch’s NO HOMO, at Hollywood Fringe Festival which was awarded Best Director, Best Ensemble and Best New Play.  At Bootleg Theater jessica directed the World premieres of FOUR CHORDS AND A GUN by John Ross BowIe, I CARRY YOUR HEART by Georgette Kelly, THE WILLOWS by Kerri-Ann McCalla and BLUE GOLD & BUTTERFLIES by Stephanie Batiste.

She also directed, PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT at Celebration Theatre (Winner 2019 Ovation Award Best Production of a Musical). Also In 2019, she directed A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM for Make Trouble in Wilmington, NC. And Directed Michelle Kholos Brooks’ HOSTAGE at Adobe Rose Theatre in Santa Fe, NM. Jessica produced two plays by Kirsten Vangsness at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  She Co-directed Justin Sayre’s RAVENSWOOD MANOR at Celebration Theater and directed a workshop of Sarah Tufts’ ABIGAIL for Inkwell Theatre

In 2020 she directed POLAROID STORIES at CalPoly Pomona. THE WOLVES at CSU Long Beach. During the pandemic she directed Iris Bahr’s solo piece DAI and produced Philicia Saunder’s BREATHE for Outpost_13 & Outside In and A WALK IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD by Katie Lindsey. Upcoming: FEFU & HER FRIENDS (online) at CalPoly Pomona and AS ONE at Orlando Opera.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

This week, Jaina Alexander and April Sigman-Marx, chat with Matthew Ellenwood about the values of training performers to embrace. Listen to them talk about the importance of learning self-awareness in actor training.

Matthew is the owner of Complete Vocal Services: Ellenwood studios, an independent studio focusing on the artistic development of performing artists through classes in voice training, acting, and emotion regulation integrated into performance skills. He is also the artistic director for Terra Mysterium theatre troupe and a proud dog dad.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Thumbprint Studios sat down with D-Nick, a storyteller, musician, and self-produced entertainer. Hear D-Nick’s story about how he has paved his own path in the music industry, by using the skill set he acquired during his higher education.

D-Nick The Microphone Misfit is the lead MC, lyricist & artistic director of the group The Microphone Misfitz. The group has toured worldwide from grassroots gatherings to South By Southwest; from Algeria to China. Sharing stages with luminaries such as Crucial Conflict, Dead Prez, KRS-ONE, Jeru tha Damaja, Saul Williams, Mega Ran and more. Focused on the themes of living for a healthier state of mind; and uplifting those who are trying to find their path in this world, The Fitz embodies the acronym Healthy Independent People Helping Other People (H.I.P. H.O.P.). In 2018 the group made history by being the first Hip-Hop group from the USA to officially perform in China since the country banned Hip-Hop. Each of the group's albums come inside of a full-length comic book. Along with performing and recording music each member of the group does arts programs in Chicago and abroad training and educating youth in dance, music production, art, vocal training, and restorative justice. The group has held residencies with organizations and universities such as Columbia College Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Changing Worlds & Civic Leadership Foundation.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

Make some tea and grab a comfortable seat as Thumbprint Studios interviews The Educated Actor (TEA). Get to know the each member of TEA and what their group brings to the table. 

Hosted and produced by Natalie Cruz, Mat Belnas, and Caroline Xique, The Educated Actor podcast is an ongoing conversation with emerging Los Angeles actors who are trying to figure out "the business," just like YOU!

Edited by: Rachel Post 

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young 

Transcript: TBA

Join our host, Jaina, with guests Chuk Obasi, Victoria Melkonyan, and Moraud Lebaschi as we discuss the importance of our given names and how the world around us has reacted to their existence.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA

In this week’s episode, we talk with actor and puppeteer Emma Wade about her work with objects and space. Listen as we get into some silly and fun object work spontaneously during our chat!

Emma Wade is an actor, puppeteer, teacher and director based in the north-east. She has trained closely under the mentor-ship of Lenard Petit in NYC, developing in-depth explorations of Michael Chekhov Technique for actors. Her work with Chekhov continues to grow and to cultivate her own offerings as a teacher and performer. Before this mentorship in NYC, Emma was primarily working with puppetry. She has had professional experiences with puppetry legends such as Bread and Puppet Theatre, Ralph Lee and Basil Twist. She will share at Thumbprint Studio’s Tea her thoughts on how actors might benefit from exploring puppetry for developing work in isolation and in virtual spaces.

Edited by: Rachel Post

Intro & Outro Music by: Marc Young

Transcript: TBA