Visual Artist & Creative Producer
Canadian Egyptian Swedish.
Living & working in NYC & Toronto.
Visual Artist (photography, design, film) + a Creative Producer (visual art + project management).
I received a BFA with Honors in Theater from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.
I graduated with a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising from Parsons School of Design.
I trained in Film Studies at The New School.
I studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, American Conservatory Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Equity Showcase Theatre, and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Producing Director / Actor / Designer / Photographer
I curated programming, developed literary content, designed the theatrical posters, and produced Diverse City Theater’s (DCT) GREEN ROOM, an annual reading festival of original plays by emerging and established playwrights.
Some of the illustrious stars of Broadway, Film & TV who performed in the readings include: Tony Award Winner and legendary actress Marian Seldes (Deuce, A Delicate Balance), Tony winner Michael Cumpsty (End of the Rainbow, Sunday in the Park With George, Copenhagen), Laila Robins (Homeland, The Real Thing, Bored to Death), Susie Misner (Chicago, Gossip Girl), and Lois Markle (True West, Stepenwolf’s The Grapes of Wrath).
I produced with the Ensemble Studio Theater—under the artistic leadership of the late Curt Dempster—the acclaimed production of NEA-honoree Linda Faigao-Hall's THE FEMALE HEART (Jamie Richards, dir.) at Theatre Row.
I produced and performed in DCT’s EQUALITY PLAYS FESTIVAL (Theatre Row), a festival of four one-act plays about “gender identity issues in the 21st century.” Paulanne Simmons of nytheatre-wire.com wrote: " ... [The plays] show the originality and energy that make Diverse City Theater a company to watch. Diverse City Theater is still in its youth, but it exhibits the kind of thoughtfulness in the face of difficult subject matter one would like to see more of in today's theater." Playwrights include Tony-nominated Rob Askins, Joe Byers, Jorshinelle Taleon-Sonza, and Stuart Harris.
I produced NOON DAY SUN by Cassandra Medley (NEA-Honoree and recipient of AUDELCO August Wilson Playwrighting Award), and directed by Victor Lirio, at The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row. It starred Emmy nominated & Obie Award Winner Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us, Two Trains Running, Jesus Hopped the A Train), Helen Hayes Award Winner Gin Hammond (The Syringa Tree), Melanie Nicholls-King (HBO’s The Wire, Rookie Blue), Michael McGlone (The Brothers McMullen, She’s The One), David Newer (Dinner With Friends), and Penelope Darcel. It is the winner of the Theatrefest Award for Best Play and was nominated for multiple AUDELCO Awards.
I co-produced Tony Award winner Lea Salonga in a sold-out and critically acclaimed concert at Carnegie Hall benefiting DCT which also featured guest artists Liz Callaway, Andrea McArdle and Paolo Montalban (dir. Richard Jay-Alexander, music dir. Kevin Stites). It was named in Playbill’s TOP 10 BEST OF 2005 and was declared “a triumph!” by Andrew Gans.
Under the artistic leadership of Victor Lirio, DCT received a nomination for Actors Equity’s The Rosetta Lenoire Award for “outstanding contribution made to the universality of the human spirit in the American theater,” and was honored by Disney Foundation’s Volunteer Community Fund in 2006 and 2008.
Assistant Director / Coach / Designer / Photographer / Editor
For Find Your Voice, Inc., I served as Assistant Director and Coach. I trained individuals—with the award-winning Find Your Voice method—in playwrighting and acting, to develop and enhance emotional intelligence.
Coached the 1st inter-generational workshop at the DOROT senior center in 2011.
Assisted in the development and implementation of training workshops for public school teachers, students and seniors.
Assisted in the development, copy editing and marketing of published books:
One Vision, Many Voices (an anthology of plays written over 25 years), and
Tilly Takes A Try (a children’s book).
I managed branding and designed marketing collaterals for advertising, including: graphics creation, photography, filming and video editing; project managed web and content development, as well as social media activities; and researched, prepared, and wrote grant proposals.
I co-produced FYV's benefit gala at Lincoln Center.
Producer / Actor / Designer
I served on the Board of Directors of Theatrix, where I acted in, designed for, and produced numerous productions, including:
THE BALL OF ROSES by Adrian Bewley, THE GRATEFUL ONE by Lynne Elson, and the DROP YOUR SHORTS & RABID FIRE ONE-ACT FESTIVALS.
Director / Assistant Director / Producer
As a director, I worked on SOME NY THEATRE for the Turnip Festival and assisted directed Adrian Bewley's THE RICHARDSON EXHIBIT
and Christopher Serkin's THEME WITH VARIATION for Lincoln Center's BIG ART in small places.
Other theater/film credits include:
The Public Theatre's production of David Henry Hwang's Tony nominated & Obie winning THE GOLDEN CHILD (James Lapine, dir.).
As a producer I worked for ChiaroScuro Films and the Cygnet Theatre Company.
Worked in collaboration with Mosaic Entertainment and consulted for the global film production/distribution company ReInventions (alongside Olympia Dukakis
and Wynton Marsalis).