Contact Us - Parallel Exit

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION STATEMENT

Parallel Exit is committed to being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive performing arts organization. This commitment requires thoughtful action in order to cultivate a workplace culture that is open, transparent, safe, and dedicated to long lasting equitable employment practices.

This statement is a living document; one that Parallel Exit will revisit, update, and expand upon in the coming days, months, and years.

Parallel Exit creates live performances for audiences of all ages. We aim to be a joyful place for all. Our work is created through artistic collaboration, and this spirit extends to how we interact with our community and audience members. Our goal is to make all feel welcome and heard.

Over the past several seasons, Parallel Exit has made a distinct effort to increase the diversity represented in our board, staff, and creative teams, reaching beyond our immediate network in order to include a wider representation of cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds within our organization.

Parallel Exit has always fostered a family environment; one of belonging and comradery. We are committed to expanding that family, providing a safe and welcoming atmosphere for all. Especially with our commitment to making high caliber experiences accessible to families, Parallel Exit seeks to represent authentically the diverse audiences that we serve.

Land acknowledgement:
Parallel Exit’s office is on the land of the Munsee Lenape people. We celebrate this place called Lenapehoking and honor the Indigenous People who first loved and stewarded this Land, and those who are still here caring for it.

Mark Lonergan | Artistic Director

Ken Banta

Ken Banta is a proven executive and advisor in the pharmaceutical industry, driving transformational change and building high performance leadership and organizational cultures. Most recently, he played a pivotal role in positioning Bausch + Lomb for its $8.7 billion Valeant acquisition. As the Founder and Managing Partner of The Forum For Leadership, Ken is a senior advisor to CEOs and top management including at Forest Laboratories and Retrophin Incorporated. He is also the Principal of The Vanguard Forum For Health Care Leadership, an annual leadership meeting for top tier executives drawn from across the healthcare spectrum. From 1982 through 1991, Ken was a writer and foreign correspondent for Time Magazine based in Chicago, Vienna and London. This included his assignment as Eastern Europe Bureau Chief from 1985 to 1990, covering the democratic revolutions of that region. Ken is a graduate of Amherst College and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He resides in Manhattan.

Mark Lonergan

Mark is a New York-based director/creator, and the Artistic Director of Parallel Exit, a three-time Drama Desk Award nominee for Unique Theatrical Experience. With Parallel Exit, he has created many original and award-winning works of physical theatre. Mark’s work has been seen in theatres and festivals in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In New York City, he has presented work at Lincoln Center, BAM, The New Victory Theater, 59E59 Theaters, Symphony Space, and the Guggenheim Museum. He recently directed EXIT which toured across Germany. Mark was the Guest Director for three productions of The Big Apple Circus, each a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Mark was the Physical Comedy Consultant for Tony winner Christian Borle in the City Center Encores production of Me And My Girl. He was also the Creative Director for Vermont’s celebrated Circus Smirkus for five seasons.

Matthew Menendez

Matthew Menendez serves as counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, where his work focuses on fair and impartial courts. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, he was a litigator at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in New York City. Matt attended New York University School of Law as a Dean’s Scholar and graduated in 2007, having served as notes editor of the NYU Environmental Law Journal. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College in 1999. After graduating from Swarthmore, he worked in Washington, DC, as an aide to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, where he concentrated on issues including the judiciary, energy, and the environment.

Joel Jeske

Joel Jeske (Associate Artistic Director/Creator/Performer) is a physical comedian, director, teacher, and creator of his own theater shows. With Parallel Exit, he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2006, 2011, and 2015 for creating Cut to the Chase, Room 17B, and Everybody Gets Cake! He has appeared on television and in major feature films, including Two for the Money with Al Pacino and Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock. Internationally, he starred with Peter Shub at the Apollo Variete in Germany and was the headlining show at Festival Der Traume in Austria, the COS Festival in Spain, and the AEMI International Clown Festival in China. As a clown, Joel toured and created clown acts for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, Cirque Du Soleil, and hosted the Big Apple Circus production of Step Right Up! He is the creator and lead clown of the Big Apple Circus production The Grand Tour. He was honored as Clown of the Year 2007 won the Audience Choice Award for best clown act in 2009. Visit joeljeske.com.

Oana Botez

Oana Botez’s (Costume Designer) work for Parallel Exit includes Everybody Gets Cake! and the Big Apple Circus 2015-16 production The Grand Tour. Other work includes sets and costumes for many plays at the National Theater of Bucharest and work across the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston. Her wide variety of work in theater, opera, film, and dance includes collaborations with Robert Woodruff, Richard Foreman, Maya Beiser, Richard Schechner, Blanka Zizka, Brian Kulick, Zelda Fichandler, Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, Karin Coonrod, Jay Scheib, Evan Ziporyn, Eduardo Machado, Gus Solomon Jr. and Paradigm, Carmen De Lavallade, Dusan Tynek, Rania Ajami, Gisela Cardenas, Tony Speciale, Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper, Matthew Neenan, Molissa Fenley, Zishan Ugurlu, Michael Sexton, Pig Iron Company, Play Company, Charles Moulton, and Ripe Time. Oana graduated with an MFA in Design from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and was a Princess Grace Recipient, NEA/TCG Career Development Program 2009-2011.

Mike Dobson

Mike Dobson (Creator / Composer / Performer) most recently served as the designer and performer of the foley (live sound effects) for Old Hats starring Bill Irwin and David Shiner at Signature Theatre. He was assistant director for Signature Theatre’s production of Big Love, directed by Tina Landau; music director of Spiegelworld’s Vegas Nocturne at the Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas; and a performer in Circus Smirkus (Big Apple Circus), Time Step (Parallel Exit/New Victory Theater), Cut to the Chase (Parallel Exit/59E59 Theaters), The Old Comedy (Classic Stage Company), and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Zipper Theater). In 2011, Mike was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in the category of Unique Theatrical Experience for Room 17B (Parallel Exit/59E59 Theaters), which he co-wrote. Mike appeared twice on The Late Show with David Letterman and has performed with Paul Anka, Bill Irwin, Clay Aiken, Dawn Upshaw, Nellie McKay, and Ira Sullivan.

Maruti Evans

Maruti Evans (Set and Lighting Designer) has worked as a set designer in opera, theater, and dance for the last 15 years. For Parallel Exit, he designed set and lights for Everybody Gets Cake! (59E59 Theaters; Drama Desk nomination, Unique Theatrical Experience), Room 17B (59E59 Theaters; Drama Desk nomination, Unique Theatrical Experience), and Exit Stage Left (Lincoln Center Institute). He is also on the creative team as set and lighting designer of the Big Apple Circus 2015-16 production The Grand Tour. His other work includes Elsewhere (BAM), Much Ado About Nothing (McCarter Theater), An Oresteia (Classic Stage Company), Alice vs. Wonderland (American Repertory Theatre), Mouth Wide Open (American Repertory Theater), Master and Margarita (SummerScape), Nutcracker (Moscow Art Theater), Crowns (Goodman Theater), The Ballad Of Emmett Till (Penumbra Theater), and Sweeney Todd (Virginia Opera). He received the 2013 Sam Norkin Drama Desk Award for Tiny Dynamite and Pilo Family Circus, as well as Drama Desk nominations for In the Heat of the Night, Slaughterhouse 5, and Blindness (Godlight Theater Company).

Danny Gardner

Danny Gardner’s (Creator / Choreographer / Performer) select NYC credits include: Lucky in the Broadway production of Dames At Sea; Parallel Exit’s Everybody Gets Cake! and Room 17B (Drama Desk Nominations); Sheldon Harnick’s Dragons and A Doctor In Spite Of Himself both at the York Theatre; four Broadway By the Year concerts at Town Hall (choreographing and performing); and Parallel Exit’s Time Step at the New Victory Theater. Select touring and regional credits include: Mike Nulty in White Christmas; Here To Stay — The Gershwin Experience; 42nd Street; four shows at the two-time Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Opera House (most recently Frank in Show Boat); nine shows at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, including the world premiere of Neurosis; and the world premiere of Noah Racey’s Pulse at Asolo Repertory Theatre. dannyjgardner.com

Brent McBeth

Brent McBeth (Creator / Performer) is a performer, dance teacher, and choreographer who joined Parallel Exit in 2006 with the creation of Time Step and continues to create new works with this amazing company. He has performed with Parallel Exit at the GOP Variety Theaters (Germany), Festival der Traume (Austria), the COS Festival (Spain), and as a clown for the Big Apple Circus 2015-16 production of The Grand Tour. New York performance credits include: Everybody Gets Cake! (59E59 Theaters); Room 17B (59E59 Theaters); Time Step (New Victory Theater); Exit Stage Left (Lincoln Center Institute, Symphony Space); No, No Nanette and Face the Music (City Center Encore!); Broadway By The Year (Town Hall). Regional and tour performance credits include: Fosse (with Ben Vereen and Ruthie Henshall); Thank You, Gregory (with Maurice Hines); Cabaret (Emcee); Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (cast album); and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Dexter).

Olivia O'Brien

Olivia O’Brien (Production Stage Manager) has worked with Parallel Exit since 2005 on many productions across the country and internationally. New York credits include The Water Dream (NYMF 2013) and productions at the Lincoln Center Institute, the Astoria Performing Arts Center, Jennifer Muller/The Works, Flamenco Vivo, the Target Margin Theater Company, and the Oberon Theater Ensemble. She has served as the resident PSM at LaGuardia High School (“The Fame School”), with credits including Hairspray, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity, Kismet, and The Merry Widow. She has also worked with Barrington Stage Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, PICT Classic Theatre, and Cortland Repertory Theatre. oliviaobrien.com

Ryan Kasprzak

Ryan Kasprzak was honored to serve as assistant choreographer alongside Emmy winner Josh Bergasse on NBC’s Smash. He was associate resident choreographer and dance captain for the national tour of Billy Elliot. Ryan was dance captain on the international tour of Fosse and studied the style with Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, and Ben Vereen. Along with his brother Evan, he appeared and choreographed on Fox’s So You Think You can Dance. Most recently, Ryan was Dance Captain for The Bandstand at Paper Mill Playhouse directed and choreographed by Tony winner Andy Blankenbuehler and choreographer for Southern Comfort at Public Theater. He is part of the resident faculty at The Performing Arts Project and a professor and alumnus of Marymount Manhattan College. ryankasprzak.com

Derek Roland

Derek Roland is a New York City based performer, writer/composer, director and choreographer. Originally from Rochester, Derek received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Niagara University, and his theatre credits include National Tours of Kiss Me Kate (Bill Calhoun), Show Boat, Cinderella, and Funny Girl, as well as the Italian Tour of West Side Story. NY credits include performances at Town Hall, City Center, Derick Grant's I Love Tap, Melinda Sullivan's Gone, Tap City (at the Duke Theater), the New Victory Theater, NY Fringe Festival, American Theater of Actors, The York Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, and the NYMF. Derek is on faculty at Steps on Broadway, Mark Morris Dance Group, CAP21 Conservatory, Marymount Manhattan College and Broadway Dance Center. His direction and choreography have been featured in NYC at venues such as Lincoln Center Institute, the New Victory Theater, the Laurie Beechman Theater, 59E59 Theater's, Emerging Artists Theatre, NYMF, Vital Theater Company, and New World Stages. Current projects in development include the original rock musical Pie Eater! derekroland.com

Shereen Hickman

Shereen is best known as a creator/lead clown/acting coach for the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. Starring as Ginger in Zumanity in Las Vegas, then going on to Broadway to create the leading female role of Margaret in Banana Shpeel (directed by David Shiner) and then touring under the Big Top as Deeda in Amaluna (with Tony award winning director Diane Paulus). NYC highlights include becoming the first female company member of Parallel Exit, where she brought to life audience favorites The Evil Step-Monster Louisa in The Final Reel and the erratic real estate mogul Libby T. Grump in I

Bob. After a successful launch with Opera North in Havana Nights, Shereen is excited to launch further into Sunset Circus and collaborate with the highly talented and soon to be established circus family being born at Parallel Exit. LA highlights include rapid advancement through The Groundlings School of Improv, and a diverse career in voiceovers with over 65 voice acting credits including eleven unique cartoon animals for Pet Vet, bloodletting screams for Pepsi-Cola, and world-famous cows Mabel and Sadie in the Happy Cow/Real Cheese Comes From California commercial campaign. An avid lover of laughter and general whimsy, Shereen is always up for the challenge of finding the funny that unites us all. www.shereenhickman.com

Noeli Acoba

Noeli is a multidisciplinary circus performer with specialties in Aerial Rope and Hula Hoop. She is also a Youtuber and a founding member of the American Circus Alliance. She was the Apprentice Mentorship Program Student (2017) at Kinetic Theory Circus School in Los Angeles, and has since gone on to perform internationally in festivals, shows, and at premier venues such as la TOHU. Noeli has collaborated in researching new, inventive apparatuses with companies like Cirque du Soleil and Acrobatic Conundrum.

Lex Alston

Lex is a New York based performing artist, actor and teaching artist. They received a BA in Theatre and Performance from Purchase College where they premiered their one-person silent physical-comedy show, Falling on Purpose. Lex joined the Parallel Exit team to collaborate on PE’s comedy shorts series, Elevator Pitch, which went on to be a featured series on the Rizzle app. Lex has performed in all 5 NYC boroughs with Bindlestiff Family Cirkus’ Flatbed Follies as a member of their Clown Alley and works as a teaching artist with Bindlestiff’s Cirkus After School, Time Flies Circus, and The Muse as a youth circus skills instructor. Lex is currently training to become a Laughter League clown doctor! Lexalston.com

Peter Bufano

Peter is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and educator working in narrative media including circus arts, film, theater, broadcast, and streaming media. He’s best known for his original scores for circuses. Bufano entered the circus arts as a graduate of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College (‘86). He toured with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for four years performing thousands of shows in front of millions of people. Bufano studied Film Scoring in Boston at Berklee College of Music (‘96) and returned to Ringling Brothers in the position of keyboardist in the circus band. He toured for another two years performing in such venues as Madison Square Garden in New York, TD Garden in Boston, The Staples Center in Los Angeles, X-Finity Center in Washington, D.C., and The United Center in Chicago. Bufano’s work in the circus led to creating original music for more shows starting in 2003 with his score for The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, through to his more recent work The Big Apple Circus and Hideaway Circus. Bufano is an Assistant Professor of Film Scoring at Berklee College of Music and was the 2019 Newbury Comics Fellow for his work in circus music. peterbufano.com

Darien Crago

Darien’s first introduction Mark and Parallel Exit came serendipitously the very first week she moved to NYC ten years ago; she has been grateful for every creative collaboration ever since! As a lover of physical comedy, dance, and classic Hollywood films, joining PE* was a no brainer. (*Parallel Exit…NOT Physical Education. Same amount of bruises, different motives.) Darien has been seen in the PE originals I LOVE BOB, choreographed by Ray Hesselink, THE FINAL REEL, as the Hollywood heroine Penny, as well as frequenting their digital comedy series ELEVATOR PITCH. Darien has performed all over the world, most recently in Paris with a group of Jacques Lecoq trained comedians in THE YŌKAI. She made her Broadway debut in HOLIDAY INN as one of the rope-jumping-tap-dancers and tap danced with Tommy Tune in LADY, BE GOOD at NY City Center Encores! Darien has spent multiple holiday seasons traveling with the National Tour of WHITE CHRISTMAS and she’s worked at many regional theaters across the country such as Goodspeed, Paper Mill, Cape Playhouse, and The Muny. TV/Film credits: FOSSE/VERDON, UPROOTED, THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL.

Jan Damm

Jan ("Yahn") has been touring in the U.S. and internationally as a circus artist for 15 years. Originally from Maine, he learned to juggle at age 10 and was active in theater throughout school. Since graduating Bard College, he has worked street corners, big-top tents, theaters and opera houses, rural schoolyards, and on screen. He specializes in clown, juggling, acrobatics, balancing and eccentric skills. Jan enjoys collaboration and creating original work, but is also at home in classic spectacles inspired by the greats of vaudeville and circus. He has toured with 'Clowns Without Borders' to Haiti, Indonesia, Lebanon and Greece. Other career highlights are appearances aboard Celebrity Cruises, Cirque Mechanics' Pedal Punk, and Big Apple Circus' 40th Anniversary Tour. He lives in Brattleboro, Vermont with his partner Ariele Ebacher and their two children.

Randy Kato

Randy Kato is a Cyr Wheel artist athlete, performer, and coach. His Space Oddity/Major Tom act was selected to be performed as part of the “David Bowie Is” exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum. He has performed for Big Apple Circus, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Omnium Circus, The Chicago Contemporary Circus Festival, NBC News, the CBS Morning Show, the FOX Morning Show, and so much more. Randy is thrilled to be joining Parallel Exit's Sunset Circus. He is also a Wheel Gymnastics World Championship competitor for Team USA. Check him out at http://randy.kato.com/cyr .

Kyle Driggs & Andrea Murillo

Kyle Driggs is a circus performer who specializes in a unique fusion of juggling, object manipulation, movement, and theatrical persona. While he developed an early interest in circus arts, his career began nine years ago at the esteemed École Nationale de Cirque de Montréal. Upon graduation, Kyle performed an array of renowned circus shows, with a stint as a soloist in Cirque du Soleil’s Broadway run of Paramour as well as The Seven Fingers off broadway hit Queen of The Night. Much of his newer work, however, concentrates on the avant garde in an effort to explore the bounds of contemporary circus arts. With a focus on experimental stage setting, immersive narratives, and the physical orchestration of common objects, Kyle’s work strives for the convergence of a modern aesthetic and high technical skill.

Andrea Murillo is a classically-trained performer whose style has been widely influenced by her work with modernist dance and contemporary theatre heavyweights. Andrea’s career in dance began at Miami’s innovative New World School of the Arts. Shortly thereafter, she began touring with the Martha Graham Dance Company where she performed in solo roles in the acclaimed works of Lamentation (1930), Serenata Morsica (1916), Embattled Garden (1958), and Steps in the Street (1936). Her expressive, character-forward experiences with the company lent themselves organically to her subsequent work, highlights of which include Lady Macbeth in New York’s Sleep No More (2012) and productions of Le Baccanti and Promote with Sicily’s Istituto Nazionale Dramma Antico. These works have continued to impel her investigation of dramatic movement, immersive theatre, and their vehicles of expression, notably film. Andrea is a recent Master Interdisciplinary Arts Teacher with the National Young Arts Foundation and is a certified Gyrotonic Expansion System Teacher. She is currently screening her latest dance feature Conduit in film festivals.

Ariele Ebacher

Ariele has been a performing circus professional for 22 years. Coming of age in the traditions of dance and theater, she takes great joy and pride in fusing the poetry and storytelling of these art forms with the spectacle and virtuosity of circus. She has had the great pleasure of traveling the world performing in every context imaginable, from black box theaters to international festivals; small circus tents to cruise ships; and everywhere in between. Some of the circus companies she has worked with include The Midnight Circus, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, Zoppe Circus, NoFit State Circus, Circus Flora, Cirque Mechanics, Flynn Creek Circus, Big Apple Circus, and Venardos Circus. She is also a co-founder of the newly formed American Circus Alliance, which aims to unite and champion circus arts and circus workers across the nation.

Jason Span

Jason is a former gymnast of eleven years and a former US Navy Hospital Corpsman based out of Jacksonville, Florida. He was honorably discharged from active duty in the United States Navy after serving for ten years to pursue his dream of becoming an aerial artist. Jason quickly developed his artistry on aerial silks in June 2015 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He relocated back to his home town in Jacksonville, Florida on October 2015 when he joined Bittersweet Studios. Always seeking to improve his skills, Jason began to cross train on multiple apparatuses such as aerial hoop, aerial straps and pole (dance). Jason began teaching and performing aerial arts at Bittersweet Studios and is currently touring with AIDA Cruises based out of Germany. Since his journey, Jason has earned several accolades, including 1st place in championships with the US Pole Sports Federation and many other competitions.

Antoinette Dipietropolo

Director, MasterChef Junior Live National Tour: Director,
International Tour of America’s Got Talent Live
Director/Choreographer, National Tour of VeggieTales
Choreographer, National Tour of Fame
Choreographer/Associate Director, Big Apple
Circus (2014,2015,2017)
Director/Choreographer, International Tour of Scooby Doo Live
Director/Choreographer, Nunsense, Flat RockPlayhouse
Director/Choreographer Saturday Night Fever, Hilton Head Theater
Director/Choreographer, Chicago, Annie, and Jesus Christ Superstar, Fort Salem Theatre
Choreographer, Annie, Muny St. Louis
Director/Choreographer, Ragtime, Lyric Stage (nominated in 14 categories for the Theatre League Awards)
Ragtime, North Carolina Theatre, (Winner Best Choreographer, Triangle Theatre Award)
Choreographer, Candide, starring George Hearn & Rita Moreno
Director/Choreographer, Legally Blonde and Hairspray Argyle Theater
Director/Choreographer for Annie, Mamma Mia!, Nunsense
Choreographer for Grease, The Full Monty, Miracle on 34th Street, The Producers, A Christmas Story, The Music Man, Evita, South Pacific, Hairspray, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (John W. Engeman Theatre)
Co-Creator/Choreographer, Powerhouse (Joyce SoHo)
Choreographer, With Glee, Off-Broadway
Choreographer, the ongoing bus tour THE RIDE in New York City
Director/Choreographer for a Pepsi/Grubhub/Seamless Superbowl promotion and Director/Choreographer for many more live events around the world.

Mark Lonergan

Artistic Director

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