Membership Spotlight – August 2025

Just this past July I Stage Managed/Lead Tech’d Atlanta’s Lavender Festival, a Southern Queer Theatre Festival focused on showcasing and supporting independent southern LGBTQIA+ work. I produced an original musical, You Are Not Your Face, with them during their inaugural year last year so getting to revisit this year and be a part of facilitating a welcoming artist experience was really really incredible. I view Stage Management as community service, especially in a festival format. You’re responsible for ensuring things move smoothly and efficiently, particularly with artists who have most likely never been in the space before and may be nervous about a fast turnaround timing wise. It really fills my cup to lead that comforting experience!

Public sector children’s media! Now more so than ever. A little Sesame Street here and there is good for the soul. I do also truly view programming like that as art as opposed to entertainment, because the amount of research and care that goes into creating those shows is insurmountably impressive. Ms Rachel has also really been inspiring me lately, I adore her.

Dream project, feeding off a bit from the previous question, would be to develop a children’s television show. PBS, Bill Nye, Zoboomafoo, and so many more I couldn’t possibly list them all, they’re my inspirations! In a world where mass produced media is impossible to ignore, especially when a large amount of children’s media is unregulated and under-researched on the internet, I’d love to contribute something positive and educational in that field. Before I worked teaching in the arts I taught STEM so finding a way to blend those two passions through an educational show would be the dream!!!

This might sound a little silly but children are my favorite people ever. My art and artistic process is lead by my inner child pulling me along saying “Look! Look!”. I think children are instrumental to changing the world for the better. TYA in particular I think is a revolutionary tool for engaging the caregivers of the children in the audience because obviously they’re there too watching with their kids. I see TYA as a really powerful tool to provide autonomy to young minds as well. There are very few mediums where kids are offered a full “Go for it.” With no restrictions. You want to exclaim and share your thoughts during the show? Go for it! You want to get up and touch a prop you think this beautiful? Go for it! You want to sit quietly and take everything in? Go. For. It. It’s wonderful to see what happens when kids are given the okay to unashamedly engage with art.

Carson Letner, the man, the myth, the legend. One of the most brilliant writers I have ever met and an incredibly impassioned educator. I have been his stage manager, his co-creator, his puppet designer, and I’m sure more im definitely forgetting. I cannot wait for the day we collaborate again.

Johnny Seven Goodwyn, one of the greatest artists I have ever known, may he rest in peace. Not that much older than me, Seven was the most disciplined, intentional, and intelligent collaborator I have ever worked with. He’d definitely laugh at the idea of me considering him a mentor, but his mentorship was through practice and example. And for all the seriousness he practiced his craft with he also reminded me that sometimes, art just cannot be that serious, and you must lead with whimsy and humor. Big love to you Seven.

Follow me on Instagram! @delsofgado and @thirdspacecommunityga. You can also visit my website sofdelgado.my.canva.site or check out my blog where I write about local independent artists: thirdspacega.wordpress.com.

I’m consulting with GenderWise on the upcoming production of The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions at The Park Avenue Armory. The book this play is based on means a lot to me and has a very nuanced, specific take on queerness, and being able to have a hand in the way the material, as well as the cast and crew, are kept safe is an honor.

The Armory is planning on working with GSA groups at city high schools to do pre/post-show workshops, and working with the teaching artists on how to discuss the subject matter with youth is an extremely exciting part as TYA practitioners!

I’m also in the process of re-vamping my Fall curriculum for my Gender and Activism course at John Jay College to 1. Better incorporate applied theatre techniques for more engaging learning and 2. Make the course more relevant and tangible (as opposed to academic and theoretical) for the current rise of fascism and active genocides.

Prince Faggot at Playwrights Horizons! I’m so excited to see more queer artists, specifically trans ones, infusing theatre that is reaching mainstream audiences (without coddling them) with a diverse range of actual queer experiences, safe and informed exploration of intimacy and kink, and such a heartfelt balance of humor and reality checks.

While not a creative project, we’re working to gain financial/business literacy to better support GenderWise and have the means to focus on it more regularly. A major goal for this upcoming year is to become a DOE vendor so we can start working more directly with NYC public schools on using Applied Theatre tools to train teachers and administrators so we can start making a bigger difference within the school system, using applied theatre tools to prepare school staff for being the strongest advocates for their students.

I started in TYA by accident fresh out of my undergrad acting program, it just happened to be where I was booking work. I’ve always loved working with kids, having been a camp counselor, nanny, and birthday clown. Once I moved away from commercial theatre and turned my professional attention to applied theatre, staying in the space of working with young people made the most sense to me based on my skill set and where I was happiest.

Seeing the ways theatre, both as an audience member and a participant, can bring out sides of youth that they never knew existed is such a gift, and it is an honor to have a hand in facilitating that kind of growth and experimentation. I’m also deeply inspired by the TYA practitioners around me who have such respect for young people, and put so much care and intention into the work that is made for and with them.

I work frequently with multi-lingual learners, and one of the most rewarding parts of being a teaching artist is seeing the ways in which students who generally keep quiet, especially when struggling with learning a new language, are empowered to use their voice and come out of their shell in ways that traditional classroom structures often don’t offer. Even beyond language, there are so many barriers for students to find their voices, and it’s so exciting and a constant challenge to find new ways to engage with all different kinds of learning and see incredible lightbulb moments.

Candidly, I had a rough experience coming up as a “theatre kid”. I had a classically abusive theatre teacher in high school, and while she wasn’t able to turn me off from theatre, she did do a lot of lasting damage on my own confidence as well as how I view the theatre world as a whole. One of my personal missions as a TYA practitioner/teaching artist is to make sure that students get an introduction to theatre that is filled with joy, love, the freedom to experiment, make mistakes and take chances, and just play.

Ania Upstill (they/them)! We met in grad school at the MA in Applied Theatre program at CUNY SPS and built GenderWise together on a whim to help support our cohort mates, and we’ve been collaborative partners ever since. I couldn’t ask for a more flexible, understanding, supportive, brilliant friend and partner to share my dream project with.

Beyond GenderWise, Ania is a brilliant clown, performer, deviser, teaching artist, and truly one of the best friends you could ask for.

Madeline (Maddie) Calandrillo (she/her)! Maddie is the Director of Education at New York City Children’s Theater, and the best employer I could ask for. Maddie exemplifies what it means to care for your staff and the community you’re serving in a way that sometimes seems impossible, especially with all the red tape that comes with being non-profit. Even after being with the organization for 10+ years, she approaches the work with joy, empathy, and more patience than I could ever hope to have. As her employee, I feel safe, cared for, and incredibly inspired to do my best work and be the best teaching artist I can be for the kids I work with.

To get in touch in regards to GenderWise, we are on instagram @genderwisetrainings, online at www.begenderwise.com, and by email at genderwisetrainings@gmail.com. To get in touch in regards to NYCCT, my email is rfeldman@nycchildrenstheater.org. To get in touch otherwise, e-mail me at remy.feld47@gmail.com.

I recently completed my graduate studies at Arizona State University, where I developed The Beanstalk Project as my applied project which continues to grow through new iterations and collaborations. The first phase focused on creating methodologies to support adult artists in working with youth by engaging with young people’s aesthetic and ideological perspectives through both generative and responsive practices. By framing youth as aesthetic ambassadors of their community, the project redefined their role from passive observers to active collaborators, offering a new model for meaningful youth engagement in the arts. As part of the initial iteration, I created a new play, The Boy Who Planted Seeds, in partnership with Theater Works of Peoria, Childsplay, and Arizona State University. I’m now collaborating with a collective of theatre artists to explore how this process can be activated in new ways with communities across the greater Phoenix area, including a program using reader’s theatre, storytelling, and playmaking with young people and their caregivers.

I’m really excited about the recent collaboration between the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and the St. Louis Zoo on their production of Romeo and Zooliet. As a self-identified “animal guy,” I’m always excited by creative, imaginative intersections between theatre and the animal world. One of my long-time dreams is to create theatrical work within zoological parks and aquariums, so seeing a project like this and the enthusiastic response to it, is incredibly energizing. In today’s cultural and economic landscape, partnerships between entertainment and cultural institutions feel especially rich with possibility, and this production seems to show the potential of these collaborations. Plus, the puppetry work is absolutely fantastic!

Always excited to see work that brings together conservation, stewardship, and young people into the same dialogue!

My wildest dream project is The Great Outside Festival. It is an immersive experience at a campsite where families come together, pitch their tents, and experience a week filled with theatre, nature, and community. It’s like an ecological theatre for youth festival meets summer camp! Each day is filled with theatrical performances that unfold on forest trails, beside the campfire, inside a giant tent lit with lanterns, or even at the edge of a lake as the sun sets. In between performances, families take part in a mix of camp activities and arts based workshops. You can sign up to rehearse and perform your own short play, go on guided hikes where you learn about the local flora and fauna, or visiting an arts and crafts station making eco-friendly puppets from recycled materials. Maybe one afternoon you’re helping build a giant collaborative nature sculpture; that night, you’re sitting under the stars listening to a story told by firelight with live music and shadow puppetry dancing against the trees. I just love the idea of this big community event in the outdoors where theatre and art are happening!

Scene: A Pre-K classroom. It’s my very first day as a teaching artist. We gather in a circle to begin our “drama time,” surrounded by the buzz of energetic young voices. I’ll never forget one child looking up at me with wide eyes and joyful urgency, exclaiming, “Come on, Mr. Thomas, we have to get ready for drama time!” Their excitement was pure, their enthusiasm contagious. From that moment on, I’ve been driven to recreate that spark and create the moment a young person discovers the joy and magic of theatre. And the vice versa of that where the theatrical experience becomes magical and joyful because a young person is involved.

The first person who came to mind is Jacob Buttry. We share a deep passion for community-based theatre practices and for creating work that not only engages audiences but also invites meaningful dialogue with the communities we’re working alongside. Over the years, we’ve collaborated on a variety of projects in multiple configurations from director and playwright, playwright and dramaturg, devisers, and co-producers. Currently, I’m serving as the dramaturg for his new play, For the Good of the Union, which explores the Bisbee Deportation and will have its first reading at the end of August.

I also want to shout out Rachel Hutzenbiler and Claire Dettloff, who are working with Jacob and me to launch a new company focused on developing community-centered new work in Arizona that is rooted in dialogue, collaboration, and place. These are a few of the people I find myself constantly creating with and imagining alongside.

This is a tough question because my journey in Theatre for Young Audiences has been shaped by an incredible community of mentors. Ashley Laverty was the one who first introduced me to the world of TYA and specifically to theatre for the very young many years ago. Stephani Etheridge Woodson profoundly influenced how I approach this work, especially in shaping my core philosophy of centering young people in both process and product. Karen Jean Martinson helped shape my thinking and practice as a playwright, dramaturg, and advocate for new work. Specifically, how I understand the power of connection and community in nurturing a piece of theatre. Amanda Pintore holds a special place in my journey. She was the first teacher I ever co-taught with, which was a gift in itself, and she became a pivotal mentor during grad school. I had the opportunity to work with her as a dramaturg, in classroom spaces, and as the chair of my applied project committee. Amanda really bookends my TYA journey from its beginning to where I am today which is amazing to reflect on. And I would be remiss not to shout out the incredible Jenny Millinger. I’ve lost count of the number of doors she’s opened for me and the ways she’s welcomed me into this field. From Write Now to EYEPlay to my applied project, Jenny has helped create spaces where I could both learn and contribute. I’m so grateful to have spent much of my professional life within the Childsplay ecosystem, with Jenny as a constant resource and guide in my growth as a dramaturg, playwright, and teaching artist. And a huge shout out to the young people who I have worked over the past many years who taught me more about my craft then I can ever express. They also helped me reconnect to my younger self!

Insta: thomasjunderdal; NPX: https://newplayexchange.org/users/67815/thomas-underdal; Email: thomasjunderdal@gmail.com.