STAFF BIOGRAPHIES

DONNA TRINKOFF (Producing Artistic Director) Since joining Amas Musical Theatre as Producing Director in fall 1994, Ms. Trinkoff has been instrumental in the emergence of Amas as an important laboratory for the development of new American Musicals. Among the musicals that have been or are currently in the Amas development process are Stormy Weather: The Story of Lena Horne Story (2001-5), Zanna, Don’t! (2003-4), Latin Heat (2003), From My Hometown (2003-4), Langston Hughes's Little Ham (2002), and 4 Guys Named José (2000-1). Donna has also produced Lone Star Love, or the Merry Wives of Windsor, Texas (2004-5), Reunion (1998), Rollin’ on the T.O.B.A.(1999), Delphi or Bust (1997), and Richard Rodgers Award-winners Barrio Babies, Bobos; and The Princess and the Black-Eyed Pea among many others, including 26 musicals for the Amas Six O’Clock Musical Theatre Lab. Ms. Trinkoff’s association with Amas began in 1984 as a singer in the summer tour of Langston Speaks. She holds a B.A. in English and Theatre from SUNY Binghamton. She is also a graduate of the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Center and received a Certificate of Merit from the Drama Studio in London. In 1998, together with her mentor Rosetta LeNoire, the founder of Amas Musical Theatre, she received the New York Municipal Art Society Award of Merit. She is also the recipient of the 2004 Galaxy Award from the New York Women’s Association. Ms. Trinkoff is a member of the Board of Directors of the League for Professional Theatre Women and serves on the Theatre Panel of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

JAN HACHA (Managing Director) is responsible for infrastructure, institutional development, strategic planning, corporate sponsorship, and integrated marketing and communications planning. Prior to joining Amas he headed an integrated marketing communications and advertising agency, TRIO Communications, that offered strategic marketing planning, launch planning, branding, integrated communications, training, advertising, direct marketing and tactical creative services across all media. Hacha’s background includes business-to-business, business-to-consumer, channel communications, media relations, and research services provided to a diverse client base including automotive, non-profit, health insurance, financial, technology, government, automotive aftermarket, insurance, food products, and retail. He’s been responsible for numerous successful market- and customer-building campaigns, public relations campaigns, and business theatre events. Early in his career he also ran a small theatre company and has served on the Theatre Panel of the New York State Council on the Arts.

DACIA WASHINGTON-TORCHIA (Director of Education) has been an acting teacher and a Theater Teaching Artist in New York City Public Schools since 1991. A graduate of the Conservatory Training Program at Purchase College, she has been an adjunct professor of Acting and Speech, having taught at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, Department of Undergraduate Drama. While teaching for NYU, she taught at Playwright Horizons Theater School as well as the Atlantic Theater Company School. She has worked for several pre-eminent arts-in-education organizations including Lincoln Center Institute, Young Audiences, Theater Development Fund, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Her tenure with these institutions has served to refine her practice, heighten her understanding of the ever shifting relationship between arts organizations and the schools, and deepen her commitment to the importance of quality Arts Education for all young people. As the Director of Education Outreach at Amas Musical Theatre, she looks forward to developing programming that promotes her ideal of quality Arts Education for students in NYC Public Schools. She believes they are entitled to an exposure to the cultural community that will encourage them to create theater, and promote an understanding of different types of expression that in turn reflects their experience of the world.

RAJENDRA RAMOON MAHARAJ (Artist-in-Residence) is the recipient of ten AUDELCO nominations for Excellence in Black theater Off-Broadway, and the recipient of four AUDELCO awards for his direction and choreography for the revivals of Damn Yankees and Jamaica. Rajendra is the recipient of the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors and the TCG New Generations Grant in partnership with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. He is also the recipient of the Woodie King Jr. Award for Outstanding Direction of Damn Yankees. Rajendra was the Assistant Director on the Tony Award Winning Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun at the Royale Theatre, and has directed and choreographed at many of New York’s top theaters. His regional credits include the world premiere of A Walk Through Time at Freedom Theatre and Nightswim and Classyass, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Damn Yankees at St. Louis Black Rep, DreamGirls and Intimate Apparel at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and Sanctified at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He is an alumnus of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and member of the Negro Ensemble Co. Rajendra held residencies with Freedom Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Crossroads Theatre, Lark Play Development Center, and Arkansas Repertory Theatre. He is a member of the Board of Directors for ASSITEJ/USA, and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. As a playwright he has written Mississippi Night, Diss Diss & Diss Dat, Twenty-Five, Gray and BlackfootNotes. He is the Co-Conceiver of three spoken word plays Exposures, History of the Word, and Union Square. He holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts in Directing from CUNY Brooklyn College. This is his second year as Artist-in-Residence at Amas. He is also Artistic Director of Rebel Theatre.

Academy Staff

JUNE RACHELSON OSPA (Academy Director) For the past six years, June has been an art/drama teaching specialist for the Vanderbilt Y in New York City for its after school programs as well as the Drama Specialist for the Y Summer Camp. She was in charge of the Summer Drama staff and created the Musical Programs to be performed by the children for their parents. As an Educator, June co-wrote with her son Jonathan, who was seven at the time, a musical play about Tourette Syndrome. Jon was diagnosed with TS at age five. The play won the Very Special Arts Playwright Discovery Award and was performed for Congress at the Kennedy Center in DC. Tourettaville has since been performed to over 10,000 school children. June became the secretary for the Tourette Syndrome Association, NY Chapter. She developed successful, yearly mentoring brunch events for Children with Tourette Syndrome. As a producer June has worked with Doug Katsaros on Orphan Train (York Theatre), Oh Rats (Vexler Theatre in San Antonio, ACE Cabaret in Eugene Oregon); and Valadon. and with Mark Bramble on Guardian Angel at La Mama. Adding Machine: TRU (Musical Reading Series) No More Waiting (a new Musical that premiered at NYC Duplex in 2005). Meester Amerika 2006 TRU musical series. (Michael Colby, Jenn Berman, Artie Bressler), Showcase, Meester America, St. Luke's Theater 2007. As a lyricist, credits include Gone to Texas (Globe Winner at Josephine Theatre in San Antonio), S.W.A.K! (an award winning fairy tale), Welcome to Tourettaville (Grammy winner Dr. John recorded song from Tourettaville T-Ville won Spotlight Festival Awards in 2004 and Best Ensemble Award at Neurofest in 2005. June's son Jacob is animating T-Ville for 2007 release. Stellaluna (Scholastic Entertainment and MGM released July 20, 2004). TRIANGLE, with composer Mark Barkan, winner of All Seasons Festival, Member of League of Professional Theater Women, Dramatist Guild, ASCAP, TRU Board member (A Producing Organization).

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT (Artistic Associate, Director) Most recently directed and adapted the Off-Broadway stage production of Nancy Friday's ground-breaking book, My Secret Garden. Other directing credits include the Off-Broadway hit Golf: The Musical! (written by collaborator Michael Roberts) at the John Houseman Theatre Center and subsequent companies around the country, Tails (DogMusic), The Big Bang (Douglas Fairbanks Theatre) and the Original production of Broadway Kids Sing Broadway. Artistic Chris has been an instructor and director with Amas' Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy for the past 13 years including Sprang Thang, On The Town, Footloose, Godspell, The Me Nobody Knows (the 30th anniversary production), Once on This Island, Bring in the Morning, The Robber Bridegroom, and Virtual Families, among others. TV directing credits include The Broadway Kids Sing Broadway, Opening number for the 2005 MACY'S Thanksgiving Day Parade (NBC). Museum of the Moving Image Salutes Ron Howard (Bravo), Kathi Lee: We Need A Little Christmas (CBS), the NBA All-Star Game (NBC) and many productions for Theatreworks/USA. As an actor, he has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway and on TV. His performance in the Broadway production of Meet Me in St. Louis was featured on the televised 1990 TONY Awards. He played the Boy in The Fantasticks! for over 1,000 performances. Other Off-Broadway credits include: The Chosen, The Twilight of the Golds, Bent, Jekyll and Hyde, and Pets!

MONICA CELESTE JOHNSON (Dance Instructor, Choreographer) celebrates her 14th year with the Academy and Amas Musical Theatre. Recently certified in Hatha Yoga, Post Natal Yoga, Monica teaches Yoga for the Human Resources Administration for the City of New York to the homeless and families affected by domestic violence. Monica Celeste Johnson aka MONIJAE served as the co-host for Amateur Night "Live" at the world-famous Apollo for eight years and worked at the Apollo Theatre as group sales manager, as well as box office and backstage productions. Monica has worked in radio as associate producer to Karen Hunter in the Morning, Alan Colmes show and Bill Mazer and others. She also does voiceovers and promos as well. As a graduate of City College Performing Arts Department, she began performing with concert dance companies, Charles Moore Dance Theatre, Mafata Dance Company, and others and taught dance throughout the five boroughs. She began performing in musical theatre, landing the role of Vibrata with the late great Nypsy Russell and a touring company of The Wiz. She then began performing for various recording artists, including Brian Mcknight, Caron Wheeler, and toured 25 cities with Amateur Night "Live". She has performed in revues in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and India. She gives this guidance to young people, "Find Something You Love, Stay With It No Matter What, And Watch The Many Doors It Will Open For You". Monica runs her own artist management company Artist Services Associates and represents the female recording group "BITTER SWEET".

MARSHALL KEATING (Music Director) His third year at Amas, he also works asa music director for the CAP 21 Program of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts (Blue Roads, Happy Embalmer, Pages). Music Director of Amas Musical Theatre’s Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy 2006 production of On The Town and 2007’s Sprang Thang. Music Directed the recent New York Musical Theatre Festival production of Smoking Bloomberg (Audience Pick Award). Frequent cabaret performer at New York’s Duplex.

MATT MORROW (Acting Instructor) has been working with Amas for the past decade. Matt has worked with the York, Dixon Place, HERE, and the Tank, and his directing work has been seen at Amas, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, and Manhattan Theatre Club, among others, and regionally in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and in Saratoga, NY. Member of SSDC and the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and holds a BFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University.