Our People

Executive Producer

GABOR BARABAS

For NJ Rep, he has produced over 80 world premieres including Ends, A World I Never Made, North Fork, Octet, The Girl With the High Rouge, In Search of Red River Dog, Naked by the River, An Unhappy Woman, Immortal Interlude, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch, Till Morning Comes, Slave Shack, Panama, Big Boys, Winterizing the Summer House, Piaf in Vienna, The Color of Flesh, Emil, Touch of Rapture, Beyond Gravity,  A Child’s Guide to Innocence, The Good Daughter, Apostasy, The Best Man, Tilt Angel, Love and Murder, tempOdyssey, October 1962, Place Setting, And Her Hair Went With Her, Engaging Shaw, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Dead Ringer, Exposure Time (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Character Assassins, The Tangled Skirt (nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America), Puma, Night Train, The Judy Holliday Story, Jericho (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), American Stare, Release Point, Esther’s Moustache, Ants, Noir, Happy, Broomstick, Admit One, A View of the Mountains, Butler (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), Lucky Me, Dinner with the Boys, Angels and Ministers of Grace, and the musicals Immortal Interlude,Bookends, The Little Hours (recipient of and Edgerton New American Plays Award), and Date of  Lifetime. His book Miklos Radnoti: The Complete Poetry in Hungarian and English was recently published by McFarland.

Artistic Director

SUZANNE BARABAS

SuzAnne Barabas directed the world premiere of Pen Pals in NYC and NJ with a rotating cast that includes Catherine Curtin, Sharon Lawrence, Nia Vardalos, Mary Beth Peil, Kate Burton, Pauletta Washington, Nancy McKeon and Johanna Day. Also in NYC at 59E59 Theaters the NY premiere of What Doesn’t Kill You by James Hindman. For NJ Rep, SuzAnne directed the world premiere of The Two Hander (with Jill Eikenberry and Ella Dershowitz), Find Me a Voice (premiere), North Fork (premiere), Immortal Interlude (premiere), Octet (premiere), Till Morning Comes (premiere), Maggie Rose, Getting in Touch With My Inner B*tch (starring Christine Lavin, premiere), The Adjustment, 10% of Molly Snyder, Romulus Linney’s Klonsky & Schwartz, Apostasy (premiere), Women Who Steal, Apple,(U.S. premiere),The Housewives of Mannheim (premiere), Evie’s Waltz, Dead Ringer (premiere), Steven Dietz’s Yankee Tavern, Puma (premiere), Night Train (premiere), Hummingbirds, Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story, Bakersfield Mist, Annapurna, Happy, Broomstick (premiere), Lucky Me (premiere), Swimming at the Ritz (U.S. premiere), and The Realization of Emily Linder (premiere). SuzAnne directed productions of The Housewives of Mannheim at 59E59 Theater (NYC), Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara (CA), and Phoenix Theater (Indianapolis). In addition, she directed regional productions of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, The Fantasticks, The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd, Cabaret, Shaw’s Heartbreak House, A.R. Gurney’s The Perfect Party, Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother, Philip Barry’s The Philadelphia Story, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, Mark Dunn’s Belles, Lee Blessing’s Down the Road among others. She is a member of Actors Equity Association, BMI, the Dramatists Guild, and SDC.

Associate Artistic Director

EVAN BERGMAN

Over the years Evan has directed over 15 productions  for New Jersey Rep, many of them world premieres. He is extremely proud of the body of work and the theaters ability to identify a wide range of talented playwrights deserving to have their plays produced. He has also directed world premieres at many other theater including  Ensemble Studio Theater, The Duke, Daryl Roth, Barrington Stage, Jane Street, Playwrights Horizon, Arclight, The Tiffaney and 59E59. His film work includes the recent short film “Day Zero” which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was  called “A cautionary tale, perfectly realized” by Oscar award winning Director James Ivory. Dig A Hole, Find A Finger, Palm Springs and Newport Beach International Film Festivals and his Documentary for Warner Music Group featuring Roger Daltry (The Who), Philip Bailey (Earth Wind and Fire). Currently he is in pre-production for a new feature film about the life of Oyster Farmers called “Life on the Flats” which starts principle filming in the fall of 2025.

Managing Director

DEE DEE IRWIN

Dee Dee joined New Jersey Repertory Company in October 2022, bringing with her almost 30 years of experience in the performing arts and live events industry. Prior to coming to NJRep, Dee Dee spent nine years as the Director of Marketing and Communications/Associate Producer for Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, CA, and 12 years as part of the Broadway in Hollywood team for Nederlander’s beautiful Pantages theatre in Hollywood, CA. Dee Dee can also be found playing with puppets as part of the gang that produces Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! Uncensored at the legendary Jim Henson Company Lot. While in Laguna Beach, Dee Dee served as chair for the Laguna Beach Arts Alliance, saw the theatre turn 100 years old and produced much of the virtual programming during the pandemic. Originally from Los Angeles, Dee Dee holds an MA in Humanities, a BA in Theatre, and is a proud member of IATSE 857.

Literary Manager

JOEL STONE

Joel was formerly the artistic director of Off-Off Broadway’s The Theatre Asylum. On May 17, 1998, his play Horrors of Doctor Moreau (published by Samuel French, Inc.) became the first script-in-hand reading to debut at New Jersey Repertory Company. The following year, his short play The Age of Miracles premiered at NJ Rep and went on to be a finalist at the Samuel French Short Play Festival. Also in 1999, NJ Rep presented “Written in Stone”, an evening of Joel’s short plays, including The Speck of Dust in Bugsy’s Eye (featuring the late Kim Hunter). In 2001, he co-produced “One Night With You”, a collection of six short plays about Elvis, created exclusively by NJ Rep playwrights. From 2000-2002, he was the Theatre Education Coordinator for the New York City Board/Department of Education. He has written and directed for all four NJ Rep Theatre Brut Festivals, including Prairie Dogs (2004), Abilene (2004), Trouble on the PATH (2005), Seven4Seven (2006), and The Purgatory of Charlie Hustle (2008). In 2012, Joel directed the acclaimed MainStage production of Gino DiIorio’s Release Point. In 2014, Joel was the Director/Mentor of the award-winning NJ Rep Young Playwrights Project, “Shelter From The Storm”, in which local high school students wrote short plays about Hurricane Sandy. For the past three years, he has been an adjunct professor of playwriting at Monmouth University and recently taught the initial playwriting class for New Jersey Repertory Company’s West End Arts Center. Currently, he is the literary manager for NJ Rep. He was recently commissioned by NJPAC to write The Calling, his first full-length play in decades.

Production Manager and Resident Scenic Designer

JESSICA PARKS

Parks has been working for NJ Repertory Company since 2003 and has been the resident scenic designer and prop designer since 2010. Set designs at NJ Rep include: The Promotion, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, Wolf at the Door, The Jag, Swimming at the Ritz, Happy and Broomstick. NYC credits at 59E59 St. Theaters include: Michael Tucker’s Fern Hill, Butler, The Housewives of Mannheim, Jericho and Poetic License. Other credits include: The End of Hester to be performed in November at The Lion Theatre at Theatre Row NYC, Bretch:Call & Respond at Paradise Factory Theatre and Dan Lauria’s Dinner with the Boys at The Acorn Theater.

Technical Director and Facilities Manager

BRIAN SNYDER

Brian has been an artist, carpenter, and prop builder since 2003 for several companies in NY and NJ including The Art Department, PVS, Stone Dog Studios, Two River Theater Company, and NJ Repertory Company. After 4 years of teaching Visual Arts and Stagecraft at Lakewood High School, he returned to the world of freelance and made his debut as Technical Director and Master Carpenter here at NJ Rep in 2014.

Resident Costume Designer

PATRICIA DOHERTY

As NJ Rep’s resident costume designer since 2000, Doherty’s work includes: The Housewives of Mannheim, The Color of Flesh, Old Clown Wanted, The Good Daughter, Place Settings, Bookends, Engaging Shaw, Puma, Noir, Broomstick, View of the Mountains, Swimming at the Ritz, Dinner with the Boys (with Dan Lauria), Closure (with Wendy Malick, Gary Cole), Nobody’s Girl,  Butler, Mad Love and Iago , Fern Hill (with Jill Eikenberry, Dee Hoty and John Glover) to name  just a few. New York: Southern Comfort—The Musical (The Public Theater 2016 Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics, Drama Desk Award Nominations with Annette O’Toole, Jeff McCarthy); Dinner with the Boys  with Dan Lauria (The Acorn Theatre) Academia Nuts (2014 NYMF Best New Musical); The Devil’s Music (St. Luke’s); The Goldman Project (Abingdon Theatre); Freed, Fall to Earth, Poetic License, The Housewives of Mannheim, Butler, Small World (59E59th St Theatres); Love Therapy (DR2) Regional: Alley Theatre (past resident designer), Barrington Stage, Cleveland Play House, Merrimack Rep, Florida Rep, Penguin Rep, Engeman Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Montreal Jazz Festival , Luna Stage, Playwrights Theatre of NJ, Merrimack Rep (MA), People’s Light and Theatre Festival (PA), Rubicon Theatre  of LA, Mosaic Theatre (DC), Cape Cod Playhouse (MA), Weston Playhouse (VT) TV/Video: AT&T, “Unsolved Mysteries,” Pennsylvania Public Television Guest Artist: Monmouth University, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio University, Niagara University, Syracuse University Guest Artist and Instructor: Kent State University, School of Theatre and Dance 1992-95.

Resident Lighting Designer

JILL NAGLE

Jill is the Resident Lighting Designer at NJ Rep. Partial NJ Rep include: Dinner with the Boys, Closure, Butler, Broomstick, Happy, Puma, Night Train, and Noir. Partial NYC designs include: Butler, A Stool at the End of the Bar, Jericho, Poetic License, Housewives of Mannheim, The Man in Room 306, The Dishwashers (59E59), Love Therapy (Daryl Roth), Dinner with the Boys (The Acorn) The Bully Pulpit (Samuel Beckett), Do Not Go Gentle (Harold Clurman), Count Down (Bank Street), In the Parlance (The Pulse), Carrera (La Mama E.T.C.), South Beach Rapture (Dixon Place). Other venues: John Engeman Theatre, Chester Theatre, Luna Stage, Playwrights of New Jersey, Montclair State University, New Jersey City University.

Resident Sound Designer

NICK SIMONE

Simone has been a performing arts educator in NYC for the past 18 years. He has worked at various music schools for all ages and has been a teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company, Apollo Theater, and Sundog Theatre specializing in sound design and musical disciplines. As a musician, Nick plays multiple instruments and has also performed at the renowned Carnage Hall and at the Metropolitan Opera House. Nick has also worked as a sound designer and as an audio engineer for many productions such as: US: A Progressive Love Story, The Norwegians, North To Maine, IYOM, Wild Children, Time Travelers Trip To Niagara, The Diorama, Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Bryant Park, Extreme Weather, Don’t Dress For Dinner, Villainous Company, Capone, & Romantic Trapezoid. Nick is also affiliated with MTV’s production Artist to Watch series as a sound assistant. He is currently the chief audio engineer for Fenix Studios in Staten Island, NY and has credits on multiple albums, films, broadcasts, streaming, music videos and mobile apps. He has worked with up-and-coming talent and platinum selling artists in different genres from Lorde to Coldplay.

Master Electrician

JAMES LOCKHART

Lockhart has the pleasure of working as the Master Electrician for NJ Repertory Company. He is a young, vibrant freelance lighting designer & master electrician that has worked in the tri-state. He has a comprehensive set of skills.

Production Stage Manager

ROSE RICCARDI

Riccardi has been a NJ Rep Company member since 1998. She has worked on over a hundred productions for the Rep including: The Housewives of Mannheim (Alan Brody), The Little Hours (David Bucknam), Fern Hill (Michael Tucker), Dead Ringer (Gino Dilorio), Naked By The River (Michael Folie), Adult Fiction (Brian Mori), Bookends (Katharine Houghton, Dianne Adams, James McDowell), Whores (Lee Blessing), Donna Orbits The Moon (Ian August), Find Me A Voice (SuzAnne Barabas, Gabor Barabas) Off-Broadway credits include: Songbird by Michael Kimmel and Lauren Pritchard, Butler by Richard Strand, The Violin (Dan McCormick), The Road to Damascus (Tom Dulack), Terms of Endearment (Dan Gordon), Poetic License (Jack Canfora), On A Stool At The End Of The Bar (Robert Callely), A Better Place (Wendy Beckett), Murder In The First (Dan Gordon), Martin Luther on Trial (Chris Cragin-Day), Phoenix (Scott Organ), In The Pocket “A Sideman’s Tale (James Manos Jr. and Mark Rivera) Rose has also been a proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1999.

Ass’t Director / Ass’t Lighting Designer / Ass’t Covid Monitor

JANEY HUBER

Assistant Properties / Scenic Artist

BLAKE ROBINSON

Volunteer Coordinator

KAREN WHARMBY

Wharmby has been attending shows at NJRep since 2001. She began volunteering in 2009, and soon after became Volunteer Coordinator and House Manager. And in her past life, Karen was a math teacher at Long Branch Middle School.

Head of Finance Committee

JOHN POCALYKO

Gallery Curator

MARE AKANA

Photographer

ANDREA PHOX

Andrea has been photographing and filming people for over 30 years. Her experience began in 1980 working as an IATSE camera assistant with the finest Academy Award-winning Cinematographers in the Motion Picture Industry.

Artistic Associate

GAIL WINAR

In addition to her affiliation with NJ Rep Co, Gail teaches for the Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway, Kean University and Marymount Manhattan College. She has also taught at NYU for Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, CUNY Queensborough, Columbia Teacher’s College, Vassar College, Stockholm University, and the Jakarta International School in Indonesia. She also serves/ed on the teaching staff for the American Globe Theatre, New Jersey Repertory Company; George Street Playhouse, American Ballet Theatre, Academy of Performing Arts, Theatre for a New Audience, National Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare Theatre Company. Performing experience includes numerous tours throughout the U.S., U.K. and Europe, and original roles in Trans Scripts, Part I: The Women at 59E59 and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Missa Solemnis at the Barrow Theatre; Beyond Gravity for New Jersey Repertory Company; What I Heard About Iraq at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; and hundreds of live industrial shows for national/international corporations. Directing credits include productions for Education@Roundabout, George Street Playhouse, New Jersey Repertory Company, Kean University, LIU/CW Post, Classics on Tour, American Globe Theatre, Shotgun Productions, Biggs-Rosati and the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center. With Paul Lucas Productions, Gail has produced dozens of theater projects including TimeSlips at HERE Arts Center in NYC, and several awarding-winning productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including Trans Scripts, which won a Fringe First Award 2015. Gail has an MFA from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting/GWU; BFA from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts; and a certificate from the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain.

Thumperian Principle Manager

Reece Robinson

Assistant Production Manager

Leelu Parks

Hair and Wig Department

Koa Akana

Artistan Craftdogs

Heidi and Rico Robinson

Snail Mail Manager

Magellan Akana

Two Paws Up Audience Engagement Manager

Oliver Phox

Director of FunRaising

LuLu Barabas

Head of Security

Cody Bear Snyder

Cuddle Puddle Coordinator and Director of Couch Potato-ness

Sadie Parks

Production Stage Manager

KRISTIN PFEIFER 

NYC Credits: Hedwig and The Angry Inch Nat’l Tour (Production Asst.) Opera: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Assistant Stage Manager, Yale Opera) Regional: With George St. Playhouse as Production Stage Manager:   Dear Jack, Dear Louise, The Nerd, A Doll’s House Pt. 2, The Fabulous Lipitones.  With the NJ Repertory Company as Production Stage Manager: Multiple Family Dwelling, & Juliet, Halftime w/Don, F-Theory, Mutual Philanthropy, The Calling, Wild Horses, Mercy, Apple Season, The Source, Surfing My DNA, Voyager One, Lily, Bone on Bone, The Promotion, Shrinking, Shrinking World, Welcome to Matteson! Kristin is a proud member of Actor’s Equity. 

Production

IAN DUHART

IAN DUHART is very excited to be a part of this show at NJ Rep. He just finished a run as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid and Gator in Memphis the Musical. He’s honored to be a part of this team, and hopes you all enjoy the show!

Choreographer

JORDAN RYDER

Jordan Ryder is a New York-based choreographer, movement director, and dancer known for her innovative blending of storytelling and contemporary movement. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Jordan serves as the Artistic Director of RyderDance, a contemporary dance collective that has performed across the United States. Her choreography has been presented at notable venues including the Martha Graham Studio Theater, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, among others. Recently, she choreographed the Off-Broadway productions “White Rose The Musical” (2024) and “Singfeld! A Musical About Nothing” (2023). With a vision that extends across live performance and film, Jordan’s artistic practice is ever-evolving, driven by curiosity, adaptability, and a commitment to learning. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

Fight Director

Brad Lemons

Brad Lemons (Fight Director) Over 25 productions with NJ Rep, including most recently: Welcome to Matteson!, Eden Praire: 1971, The Promotion, and Lily. Broadway: Camelot, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Off-Broadway: Treasure Island, Macbeth, Evil Dead: The Musical, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, The Three Musketeers, Film: Bear With Us, Lies I told My Little Sister. Opera: Romeo et Juliette, Porgy & Bess; Fanciulla Del West, Carmen, Otello, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovani; TV: “All My Children” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.” He teaches at The Neighborhood Playhouse and Circle in the Square Theatre School, and is the president of The American Association of Fight Directors.

Access Coordinator

ALICE BLUM