DREAMING ZENZILE - MEDIA KIT

Naledi Masilo

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Sangoma Chorus

NALEDI MASILO (Sangoma Chorus) is a zesty vocalist, composer and arts practitioner from Johannesburg, South Africa. She cultivated her love for music through backyard jam sessions and endless artistic curiosity. Deeply passionate about music and women, Masilo graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Cape Town and a Jazz Performance degree from The New England Conservatory in Boston. Masilo has been a resident at the Kennedy Center (DC) through Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program, where she was mentored by the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jason Moran. She has also been selected as part of the prestigious South African Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band and has been invited to participate in the Banff International Jazz and Creative Music workshop in Calgary, Canada. Masilo is due to make prolific strides in the arts industry—a young artist with a voice and story to remember!

Phindile Wilson

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Sangoma Chorus

PHINDILE WILSON (Sangoma Chorus), a native of South Africa, is an amazing song writer/music producer who began her career early on in SA performing in theatrical productions all around the world. She performed with Michael Jackson at Nelson Mandela’s 80th birthday, performed In Mbongeni Ngema’s productions Mama (as a main character) and Sarafina 2 in Europe and Australia.  She was in a movie soundtrack of The Lion King in 1994 at Sun City, SA.

Most notable credits include the role of Rafiki in the US tour, Las Vegas, Madrid and Brazil productions of Disney’s The Lion King to The Festival of The Lion King in Hong Kong. Most recently, Mrs. Wilson worked on the developmental lab of Mandela, The Wildflower and Dreaming Zenzile. Television credits include We Are New York short film, Orange Is the New Black, Law & Order and Flatbush. Phindi is was nominated as an outstanding best actor at The Helen Hayes Awards in Washington DC. She is honored to be part of Dreaming  Zenzile.

Aaron Marcellus

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

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Sangoma Chorus

AARON MARCELLUS  (Sangoma Chorus), a singer, vocal coach, writer, musician, dancer and actor from Atlanta, got his start in gospel music and has performed around the world. He has recorded albums and was voted to the top 24 on American Idol in 2011. After a world tour, Marcellus was featured in a ChapStick commercial, NBC’s Next Caller and STOMP. Marcellus also hosts a burlesque show at Duane Park. He founded Surrender to Love, LLC, a foundation that supports arts programs and seeks to feed the hungry, and Adventure Voice, a training program offering vocal classes for groups and individuals.

Phumzile Sojola

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

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Sangoma Chorus

PHUMZILE SOJOLA (Sangoma Chorus) is from Gqeberha, South Africa. He originated the role of Lord Pinkleton in the Broadway production of Cinderella and made his Broadway debut in Porgy and Bess (Peter). Off-Broadway, he has appeared in Three Mo’ Tenors and The Phantom of the Opera (Ubaldo Piangi). Opera credits include L’etoile (Herrisson) and Troubled Island (Popo), New York City Opera; La Boheme (Rodolfo), Missouri Symphony Orchestra; Lost in the Stars (Leader), Skylark Opera; The Magic Flute (Monostatos) and Carmen (Remendado), Dayton Opera; Porgy and Bess (Robbins/Crabman), Opera National de Lyon and The Edinburgh International Festival. Orchestral concerts include Jacksonville Symphony and Knoxville Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Krasnoyarsk Ballet Orchestra.He has also performed at the famed art festival La Biennale di Venezia with pianist Jason Moran. He can be heard on the Broadway cast recordings of Cinderella as well as The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Other recordings include Treemonisha (Cephus) with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and The American Spiritual Ensemble CD, The Spirituals.

Hervé Samb

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

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Music Director/Guitar

HERVÉ SAMB (Music Director/Guitar) is a virtuoso guitarist, original composer, arranger and respected producer. He has established himself as an outstanding musician worldwide, with many famous artists such as Marcus Miller, Oumou Sangaré, Salif Keïta and so many others. He is occasionally an artistic director for renowned artists such as Kellylee Evans, Somi and Lisa Simone, to name a few. His four previous albums as a leader have all been acclaimed by the public and international critics, through which he confirms a unique style, the “Jazz Sabar,” born from the rhythms of the sabar—traditional Senegalese percussion, crossing original melodies inspired by both traditional Senegalese tunes and contemporary jazz. In 2020, he recorded two new albums: Benn, a much-awaited first solo opus, and Jolof, in which he finds the “Teranga Band” to take the “Jazz Sabar” of which he is both the pioneer and ambassador, even further.

Toru Dodo

Piano

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

TORU DODO (Pianist) was born in Tokyo and is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music currently living in New York. A pianist, composer, arranger, producer, author and Grammy nominee, he has released five solo albums. Also one of New York’s most in-demand sidemen, Dodo has worked with jazz luminaries including Kenny Garrett, Benny Golson and Curtis Fuller. Most recently, he has been frequently performing and traveling worldwide with notable singers such as Somi, Nicole Henry, Alicia Olatuja and Laurin Talese. He also has been one of the regular pianists for the Off-Broadway hit show Sleep No More since 2011. His book Excellent Jazz Piano, which features his solo piano arrangements, was published by Rittor Music in Japan in 2008. He performed on Somi’s Holy Room: Live at Alte Oper with Frankfurt Radio Big Band that was nominated for a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. He has been involved in the creation of Dreaming Zenzile from the beginning and is excited about the world premiere at The Rep.

Sheldon Thwaites

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Drums

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

SHELDON THWAITES (Percussion) is an award-winning International Caribbean-American percussionist, specializing in drum set and steel pan. Drums were his first love, but after pursuing music at the high school level, he transitioned into composition, arranging and production. He has worked with such artists as Chris Daughtry, Lauryn Hill, Amel Larrieux, Cobi and Marina Satti. Sheldon has played drums internationally for world-renowned steel bands Witco Desperadoes, Phase II Pan Groove and Skiffle Bunch. He has studied drum set with Terri Lynn Carrington, John Blackwell and Dave Dicenso. Sheldon is a graduate of Boston Arts Academy and Berklee College of Music. He currently resides in Washington, DC.

Pathé Jassi

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Bass

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

PATHÉ JASSI (Bass) has collaborated with a diverse group of accomplished musicians in a career that has spanned over three decades. Originally from Dakar, Senegal, Jassi has traveled the globe performing and recording alongside legendary West African vocalists Youssou N’Dour, Cheikh Lo, Monsour Seck, Baba Maal and guitarist Hervé Samb. In addition, he has lent his artistry to Detroit artists such as Luis Resto, Marcus Belgrave, Wendell Harrison, John Arnold and Mike E. He also worked closely with Sam Sanders, one of Detroit’s jazz legends. Pathe’s rare ability to combine bebop with a polyrhythmic African sound has made him one of Detroit’s most revered jazz musicians.

Marjani Forte-Saunders

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Choreographer

MARJANI FORTE-SAUNDERS (Choreographer) is thrilled to choreograph her first production at The Rep. She is a mother, choreographer, performer, community organizer and a three-time Bessie Award winner. She is a recent recipient of the prestigious Dance Magazine Harkness Award (2020) and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship. Marjani is a founding member of the collective 7NMS, alongside composer and husband Everett Saunders. They are recent recipients of New Music USA and the National Dance Project Production Grant for their work illustrating the life journey of the Emcee/Lyricist (PROPHET). She is an anti-racist organizer with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond and a lead facilitator with UBW’s Builders Organizers and Leaders through Dance. Commercially, Saunders has worked with Sundance Award-winning director Kahlil Joseph, director Kevin Willmott, director Kevin Everson and Tracee Ellis Ross’ product launch video campaign. Marjani is honored to be a part of the creative team of Dreaming Zenzile, in utter admiration of our beloved Miriam Makeba. Humbly, she defines her work by its lineage stemming from culturally rich, vibrant, historic, loving, irreverent conjurers!

Riccardo Hernandez

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

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Set Designer

RICCARDO HERNANDEZ (Scenic Designer) designed the Broadway productions of Jagged Little Pill (Tony nomination); Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Indecent; The Gin Game; The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess; The People in the Picture; Caroline, or Change (also National Theater London); Elaine Stritch at Liberty (also The Old Vic, London); Topdog/Underdog (also Royal Court, London); Bells Are Ringing; Parade (Hal Prince director, Tony nomination); Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk and The Tempest. Recent credits include Mes Frères (La Colline, Paris); Admissions (LCT); Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train; La Dame aux Camélias (Théâtre National de Bretagne, and TV France 3); Mlima’s Tale (Public Theater); Red Speedo and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (both directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz); Don Giovanni (Santa Fe Opera); The Invisible Hand (NYTW – Henry Hewes Outstanding Set Design Award) and Splendid’s (La Colline-Theatre National Paris). He has designed over 250 productions in the US and internationally at Abbey Theater, Cour D’Honneur, Palais des Papes– Avignon Festival, Moscow Art Theater, Oslo National, Théâtre du Chatelet Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, Theater an der Wien, English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, NYCO, HGO and others. He is a recipient of the OBIE Award for Sustained Excellence. He is an Associate Professor Adjunct of Design at the Yale School of Drama.

Mimi Plange

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Costume Designer

MIMI PLANGE (Costume Designer), an award-winning American designer, launched her own ready-to-wear label in 2010, after a decade working in the New York fashion industry. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and holds a degree in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley. Plange’s designs have been sold in luxury boutiques in the United States, Kuwait and Qatar, and she has shown her collections in New York, Sweden, South Africa, Cote d’Ivore, Paris and Nigeria. Her many partnerships include collaborations with famed shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, the iconic furniture brand Roche Bobois and most recently LeBron James and Nike. In 2016, she took part in the Celebration of Design Event hosted by Michelle Obama at the White House.  Mimi Plange’s designs have been worn by First Lady Michelle Obama, Vanessa Hudgens, Serena Williams, Teri Hatcher, Rihanna, Gabrielle Union-Wade, Paris Hilton, Viola Davis, Regina King, Janelle Monae and, most recently, she dressed actress Awkwafina for her very first Screen Actors Guild Awards. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, T Magazine, Vogue.com, Ebony Magazine, Vogue UK, Vogue India, WWD, Harpers Bazar, Marie Claire, Essence, Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Nylon Magazine.

Yi Zhao

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

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Lighting Designer

Yi Zhao (Lighting Designer) makes his Rep debut with Dreaming Zenzile. New York theatre credits include Greater Clements, Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theater); Fabulation, In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre); The House That Will Not Stand, Red Speedo (New York Theatre Workshop), Thunderbodies, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., FUTURITY (Soho Rep) and Actually (Manhattan Theatre Club). Regional credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, American Conservatory Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Wilma Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Huntington Theatre. International and opera credits include Theaternatur Festival (Germany), Opera Omaha, ArtsEmerson, Curtis Institute, Prototype Festival and Hong Kong Arts Festival, as well as upcoming work for Norwegian National Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Boston Lyric Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera. Dance credits include Sasha Waltz & Guests (Germany, international tour), Ballet de Lorraine (France, international tour) and Nichole Canuso Dance Company. He is the recipient of the 2019 Henry Hewes Design Award and 2016 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Theatre. yi-zhao.com

Emma Deane

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Lighting Assistant

Emma Deane (Associate Lighting Designer) is an Indigenous lighting designer based out of New York City and citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nation. Her recent credits include Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Manahatta at Yale Repertory Theater and Jeremy O. Harris’ YELL: A “DOCUMENTARY” OF MY TIME HERE. Other credits include Reykjavík, Trouble in Mind, Shakespeare’s as u like it and Romeo and Juliet (Yale School of Drama); ​Little Boy/Little Man, Burn Book, The Light Fantastic, This Sweet Affliction, Mud, The Guadalupes, WOLF/ALICE and Camille: A Tearjerker (Yale Cabaret). Regional credits include work with Court Theatre, The Goodman, Albany Park Theater Project, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Northlight Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, The House Theater, Filament Theatre, Interrobang Theatre Project, Akvavit Theatre, Wildclaw, North Park University and The Gannon Center for Women and Leadership. She holds a MFA from Yale School of Drama and a BA in English from Loyola University Chicago.

Hannah Wasileski

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Projections Designer

Hannah Wasileski (Projections Designer) is a visual artist and projection designer whose work spans theater, opera, music and installation. Recent designs include Hansel and Gretel (visual design for filmed production at Houston Grand Opera), Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater Company), Fires in the Mirror (Signature Theatre; Henry Hewes Award), 18 Stanzas Sung to a Tatar Reed Whistle (FiveMyles), The Magic Flute (Staatsoper Berlin), Lohengrin (Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival), Pipeline (Lincoln Center; Lortel Award), Water by the Spoonful (Mark Taper Forum), Sleep (BAM), La Voix Humaine (National Sawdust), The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature Theatre), A Proust Sonata (Wortham Center), Angel’s Bone (Prototype Festival), The Wreckers (Bard SummerScape Opera) and The World is Round (BAM; Obie Award). Her video installations have been exhibited in New York City, London, Brighton, Glasgow and Prague. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

Kylee Loera

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

Projections Assistant

Kylee Loera (Associate Projections Designer) is a professional video designer, associate, content creator/editor for live theatre, dance and musicals based in New York. She has worked at The Kennedy Center, The Signature Theater, The Muny, Theatre Row, The Triad Theater and The Rep.

Bill Kirby

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

Co-Sound Designer

Bill Kirby (Sound Designer) is an Omaha-based theatre-maker and sound designer, and serves as the Resident Creative and Technical Director at the BLUEBARN Theatre. Favorite BLUEBARN productions include Indecent and Red Summer (both receiving OEA Awards for Outstanding Sound Design). For the 2020-21 season, Bill served as the Director of Photography for BLUEBARN’s virtual season, including the American premiere of Before After and the world premiere of Buffalo Women. Before relocating to Omaha, Bill was the Resident Sound Designer and Sound Supervisor at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ. Memorable McCarter designs include the world premiere of An Iliad (co-design with Mark Bennett) and the original workshop production of Eclipsed. Some of Bill’s other favorite projects include Little Rock (Passage Theatre), Venezuela (NY Fringe Festival) and The White Snake (associate designer to Andre Pluess, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, China). Bill is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Midland University, and is a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Justin Ellington

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Co-Sound Designer

Justin Ellington (Sound Design) returns to The Rep after designing the Mainstage production of Until the Flood. He designed the Broadway production of Other Desert Cities, and Off-Broadway credits include Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons); The Rolling Stone, Pass Over, Pipeline (Lincoln Center); Mrs. Murray’s Menagerie (ArsNova); The House That Will Not Stand, Fetch Clay Make Man (New York Theatre Workshop); He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, The Winter’s Tale (Theatre for a New Audience); Familiar (Steppenwolf);  Father Comes Home From the Wars, How to Catch Creation, Until the Flood (Goodman Theatre); Floyd’s, Trouble In Mind (The Guthrie); and Kill Move Paradise (Wilma Theatre). International credits include As You Like It (Stratford Festival) and The American Clock (The Old Vic). www.justinellington.com

Egypt Dixon

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Choreographer

Egypt Dixon (Production Stage Manager) was born and raised in New York City. Credits include Atlantic Theater Company (Production Stage Manager): Anatomy OAS; Theatre for a New Audience (Assistant Stage Manager): Fefu and Her Friends, Julius Caesar, Winter’s Tale; Weston Playhouse (Assistant Stage Manager): Indecent; Weathervane Theatre (Assistant Stage Manager): Bright Star, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Chicago, Sister Act; Weathervane Theatre (Production Stage Manager): Hello, Dolly!, Buyer and Cellar, Little Shop of Horrors, Miracle of South Division Street, And the World Goes Round and Always, Patsy Cline.

Alison Cote

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Assistant Stage Manager

Alison Cote (Assistant Stage Manager) is an AEA stage manager and was part of McCarter Theatre’s stage management department for 24 seasons. Working on over 20 world premieres, highlights include Danai Gurira’s The Convert, Sorrows and Rejoicings written and directed by Athol Fugard, Stephen Wadsworth’s adaptations of The Figaro Plays and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s trilogy of The Brother/Sister Plays. Alison has also worked regionally at The Old Globe, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company DC, Goodman Theatre, Long Wharf, Paper Mill Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Pittsburgh Public and 22 productions at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. New York credits include Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons and The Public Theatre. Abroad, she was stage manager for An Iliad at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania. Alison is a founding partner of princetonVIRTUAL as a virtual stage manager and event producer and is an adjunct instructor at Rider University.

Bridgett Jackson

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Dialect Coach

Bridgett Jackson, (Dialect Coach) is a dialect coach, accent coach, speech coach and a speech-language pathologist. She is delighted to join The Rep. She is a professor of voice, speech and dialects at Muhlenberg College and has been a guest lecturer with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Her dialect coaching credits include The Equalizer (Season 1, CBS), Ain’t No Mo’ and Cullud Wattah with The Public Theater in New York, NY and Cost of Living (2018 Pulitzer Prize winner) with The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. Some of the dialects and accents she has coached include General American, Southern, Western, Midwestern, Eastern, Irish, British, Australian, Venezuelan, Nigerian, Xhosa, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Boston, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Kentucky, California, Detroit, Chicago, London, Australia, West Africa, South Africa, Jamaica, Korea, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Talvin Wilks

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Dramaturg

Talvin Wilks (Dramaturg) is a playwright, director and dramaturg. Since 2014, some of his most acclaimed directorial works have been centered at Penumbra Theatre Company: The Ballad of Emmett Till and Benevolence by Ifa Bayeza, This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers, The Owl Answers by Adrienne Kennedy and The White Card by Claudia Rankine. He is a co-writer/co-director/dramaturg for Ping Chong’s ongoing series, Undesirable Elements and Collidescope: Adventures in Pre-and Post-Racial America. He has also served as dramaturg for six collaborations with the Bebe Miller Company: Going to the Wall, Verge, Landing/Place, Necessary Beauty, A History and In a Rhythm. Other dramaturgical collaborations include work with Camille A. Brown and Dancers (Mr. TOL E. RAncE, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play and ink), Urban Bush Women (Hep Hep Sweet Sweet, Walking with ‘Trane and SCAT!) and the 2018 stage adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me at the Apollo Theatre. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Theatre Arts and Dance Department, University of Minnesota/Twin Cities and a recipient of the 2020 McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship.

abigail jean-baptiste

PRONOUNS: She/Her/Hers

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Associate Director

abigail jean-baptiste (Associate Director) is a theatre maker, director and writer born and based in New York City. Recent AD credits include Merry Wives (The Public Theater), Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater Company), Jagged Little Pill (Broadway), Passage (Soho Rep) and King Lear (Broadway). Directing credits include The Story of a Circle (Soho Rep), if there is breakage you may find chips (Irondale Brooklyn) and Olio Live (Audible Theater). Upcoming projects include The House That Will Not Stand (Le Petit Theatre, New Orleans and Three Sisters (NYTW, assistant director to Sam Gold). In 2020, she was named one of the “Powerhouse Women Directors Theatre Fans and Industry Pros Alike Need to Know” by Playbill. She is currently a part of the Roundabout Directors Group, Bushwick Starr Reading Series, Classic Stage Company Associate Board and The New Georges Jam. She is a Proud Lilly Award Winner and New Georges Affiliated Artist. She received a BA. from Princeton University.