Village Green Production
presents
Kid Gloves
Book & Lyrics by Matthew Leavitt
Music by Nathan Wang
Directed by Richard Israel
Music Direction: Anthony Lucca
Scenic Design: Mark Mendelson
Costume Design: Rebecca Carr
Lighting Design: Andrew Schmedake
Sound Design: Chris Moscatiello
Choreography: Christine Lakin
Property Master: Megan Trapani
Violence Designer: Ned Mochel
Graphic Design: Michelle Hanzelova-Bierbauer
Stage Manager: Amelia Tacy
Assistant Stage Manger: Brian Semel
Casting: Michael Donovan Casting, Michael Donovan, CSA
Richie Ferris, CSA
Publicity: David Elzer
Producer: Sami Kolko
Will Collyer (CALEB)
Theater credits include Parade (Mark Taper Forum), Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Breaking Through (Pasadena Playhouse), Big: The Musical (West Coast Ensemble), and The Full Monty (Third Street Theatre), as well as countless concerts and cabarets throughout Los Angeles. His voice can be heard in Amazon’s Do, Re and Mi, Pixar’s Cars 3 and Finding Dory and on the soundtracks to Disney’s Alladin (2019) and Wish. Graduate of UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. www.willcollyer.com
Chris Kerrigan (JUAQUIN)
Chris Kerrigan is a singer/songwriter and occasional musical theatre actor who lives and works in Los Angeles. He has done a handful of regional productions, including Parade (Hugh Dorsey), Assassins (John Wilkes Booth), Violet (Preacher), American Idiot (Tunny), Jekyll & Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde), and Avenue Q (Brian), to name a few. He releases angsty, piano-driven folk punk music under the name Compassion Fatigue. He has also written a few one-act musicals, two of which were finalists in Theatre Now New York’s festivals of short musicals (The Facebook Fighter and The Only Thing That Matters). He is positively delighted to be a part of Kid Gloves.
Natalie Lander (DARLA)
Natalie Lander has had the pleasure of working with both Matthew Leavitt and Nathan Wang in the past and is excited to be a part of Kid Gloves! On screen, Natalie has appeared in recurring guest star roles on The Middle (ABC), Lopez (TV Land), and Major Crimes (TNT), with guest spots on Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Étoile (Amazon), 13 Reasons Why (Netflix), 911: Lone Star (FOX), Castle (ABC), Hannah Montana (Disney), and many more. In voiceover, she starred as “Goldie” in Disney Jr.’s Goldie & Bear and has voiced characters in Justice League Action, Spider-Man, Craig of the Creek, Animaniacs, and major video games including Saints Row, Final Fantasy, God of War, and Fire Emblem. Natalie recently appeared in a pilot starring Jason Alexander and David Paymer, and completed filming a horror indie feature alongside Julie Benz, Busy Philipps, and Ron Perlman. Much to her chagrin, Natalie might be most well-known for her stint on the reality competition series, Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods which aired on MTV in 2008. More updates at: natalielander.com
Lauren Lorati (VICKI)
Lauren is thrilled to be a part of Kid Gloves! Recent credits include: the world premiere of Flashes of Light (Katharine Johnson, Sierra Madre Playhouse), Footloose (Wendy Jo, The Colony Theatre), Cinderella (Gabrielle/Charlotte Understudy, Ensemble, 5-Star Theatricals), Calvin Berger (Rosanna/Brett Understudy, The Colony Theatre), and originating the role of Pearl Bryan in Americana: A Murder Ballad at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Other notable roles include Mamma Mia! (Rosie), Futureproof (Serena), and Men on Boats (Hall). An LA-based actress and singer originally from Portland, Oregon, Lauren graduated from Pepperdine University with a BA in Theatre and Music. Additionally, you can find Lauren accompanying herself on the banjo performing around LA. @laurenlorati
Heather Marie Marsden (MEREDITH)
Harry Murphy (PROF. PENGUINPANTS)
Suzy Nakamura (PENELOPE AND BONITA)
Joey Richter (JACKSON)
Joey is an actor, writer, producer, & proud graduate of the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). Film/TV credits: Royalties (Roku), Henry Danger (Nickelodeon), Jessie (Disney), Glee (Fox), The Legend of Korra, Khumba, and GKIDS’ Ride Your Wave. Digital credits include: School of Thrones, I Ship It (The CW, Sundance Film Festival), Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party, & Headless. Founding member of the viral theatre company, StarKid, and can be seen in countless productions, including: the A Very Potter Musical Trilogy, the S.P.A.C.E and Apocalyptour Concert Tours (Live Nation), Starship, Firebringer, The Trail to Oregon! (Cherry Lane Theatre, Off Broadway), and recently, Nerdy Prudes Must Die, VHS Christmas Carol (The Bourbon Room), & their sold out concerts at the London Palladium. This spring he’ll be returning for the second remount of their hit horror comedy musical, The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, at The Apollo Theater on the West End. Founder of the LA based comedy group, Tin Can Brothers. Credits with TCB include: Spies Are Forever (LA, NYC), Solve It Squad (Off-Broadway, Edinburgh Fringe), Flop Stoppers (Newport Beach Film Fest), Gross Prophets (Melbourne International Comedy Festival), & the game show The Great Debate @ Dynasty Typewriter. @jonyricker on Instagram.
Jonathan Slavin (EDMUND THE ELEPHANT)
Notable Theatre Credits: Broadway: The Sisters Rosensweig (Barrymore Theatre). Off-Broadway/Regional: Cyrano de Bergerac (Pasadena Playhouse), The Best Of Schools (Ubu Rep), Six Degrees of Separation (Dallas Theatre Center). LA Theatre: Sukkot (Skylight Theatre), Homefront (The Victory Theatre), Le Switch (The Broadwater), Freud On Cocaine (The Whitefire), The Boomerang Effect (The Odyssey). Notable and/or recent film/TV: Sugar, Santa Clarita Diet, Starf*ckers, St. Dennis, Pam & Tommy, Dr Ken, Better Off Ted, Grey's Anatomy, Grace and Frankie, Speechless, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Friends, My Name Is Earl. Proudly vegan and very queer.
Adam J. Smith (EDDIE)
Adam J. Smith is an award-winning actor, director, teacher, and coach. Theatre credits include Pasadena Playhouse, CTG/Kirk Douglas & Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Antaeus (Company Member), International City Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Disney Concert Hall (alongside the LA Philharmonic), The 6th Act, Chalk Rep, EST/LA, Boston Court, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Chautauqua Theater Company (NY), The Ebell of Los Angeles, numerous Off- and Off-Off-B’way. Film: Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon Parts I & II, Taken 3, Bloody Bridget, Zombie Strippers, Deceit. TV: The Good Doctor, Jane the Virgin, Orville, Scandal, Castle, 90210, Medium, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Victorious, Chemistry, As the World Turns, among others. Won a Regional Emmy Award for When Things Get Small and has been honored for his LA theater work with numerous awards and nominations. His voice has been featured in audiobooks, fiction podcasts such as the global #1 hit The Signal, video games such as Grand Theft Auto V, feature film/TV dubbing such as Netflix’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, commercials and promos, and a museum audio guide at SFMOMA. Faculty member at CalArts School of Theater. MFA: UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse, BA: Duke (magna cum laude). Thank you, T & J!Matthew Leavitt (PLAYWRIGHT)
Matthew Leavitt, a life-long Los Angeles native, is an award-winning playwright, director and librettist. After a summer of studying playwriting at Harvard University, he was a semifinalist in the Young Playwrights National Playwriting Competition founded by Stephen Sondheim, for his play Losers and Fools. Leavitt later graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Creative Writing. His award-winning play The Boomerang Effect is published by Concord Theatricals and has enjoyed productions throughout the US and the UK. His most recent play, Sukkot, just had its World Premiere at The Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles directed by Joel Zwick. His previous play, The $5 Shakespeare Company, was recognized as an LA Times Critics’ Choice. He has also been commissioned by LA Opera twice to write the librettos for two new operas, Orpheus and The Wreck of the Miranda (both collaborations with award-winning classical and film composer Nathan Wang). Directing credits include Hamlet (The 6th Act, winner of ‘Best Director of a Play’ Stage Scene LA Award), Outside Mullingar (The 6th Act, The Matrix Theatre and Skylight Theatre), The Brothers Abelson Since 1946 (World Premiere - Electric Lodge), Legally Brunette (World Premiere - The Garry Marshall Theatre in LA, 54 Below in NYC), Sonnets From Suburbia (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 59E59 in NYC), The Scorpion and the Frog: a time killer (World Premiere - Hollywood Fringe Festival), Showstopper (World Premiere - Whitefire Theatre), Double Play (World Premiere - Feury Theatre), Barfly Shakespeare (The 6th Act), Twelfth Night (Village Green Productions), The Taming of the Shrew (Village Green Productions), Arrival (Sci-Fest LA), and Goes The Weasel (Ammunition Theatre Company).
RICHARD ISRAEL (DIRECTOR)
Richard Israel is a New York-based theatre director specializing in the development of new musicals, and is the recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Career Achievement. Current development projects include King of Pangea (off-West End World Premiere Summer 2025), Re:Connecting (with Zina Goldrich and David Javerbaum), Snipped – A Non-Cutting Edge Musical, and The Civility of Albert Cashier. Richard was the Theatrical Coordinator for the Emmy award-winning series, Big Little Lies and was the director of the multiple award-winning musical, short film Into Light. He has directed in London at the King’s Head Theatre, off-Broadway at Theatre Row, AMT and the NY Theatre Festival, and regionally at The O’Neill Theatre Center, The Ogunquit Playhouse, The Laguna Playhouse, Z-Space San Francisco and McCoy/Rigby Entertainment. Notable west coast productions include Violet (LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Direction of a Musical), Floyd Collins (Ovation Award for Direction and Outstanding Musical), 110 in the Shade (Ovation Award for Outstanding Musical), and the world premiere of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins. Other directing credits include American Whore Story (Broadway World Award for Outstanding Direction of an Off-Broadway Play), The Sound of Music, Something Rotten and Mamma Mia for 5-Star Theatricals, West Side Story and Rent for McCoy-Rigby Entertainment, and Calvin Berger for The Colony Theatre. He is the Program Director of the BFA Acting for Theatre, Film & Television at Long Island University Brooklyn.
NATHAN WANG (COMPOSER)
Nathan Wang is a highly successful composer in Hollywood and Asian cinema, known for his versatility. His filmography includes scores for Jackie Chan movies, Steven Spielberg documentaries, animated cartoons, operas, and symphonies. After graduating from Pomona College, Nathan received a Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies at Oxford University. He collaborated with Hans Zimmer on the Academy Award-winning documentary The Last Days and was commissioned to write an opera for the Los Angeles Opera, On Gold Mountain. Nathan won an Emmy for “Best Arrangement of a Song” for the Showtime show Reefer Madness and another Emmy for the documentary The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club. As a musical director, he has worked with notable artists like B.D. Wong, Lea Salonga, Tia Carrere, Kristin Chenoweth, Kristen Bell, and David Hyde Pierce. Nathan is honored to collaborate with Matthew Leavitt on Kid Gloves and has previously partnered with him on two operas for the Los Angeles Opera and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.ANTHONY LUCCA (MUSIC DIRECTION)
Anthony Lucca is an award-winning music supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger. World premieres include: King of Pangea (King's Head Theatre), Bronco Billy (Skylight Theatre Company, LA Drama Critic’s Circle Award), Mutt House (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Cult of Love (IAMA Theatre Company), Millennials Are Killing Musicals (upcoming, Colony Theatre Company). Select regional works: The Civility of Albert Cashier, Calvin Berger (Colony Theatre Company), Hairspray, Frozen, The Sound of Music, Oliver!, Cinderella, Something Rotten, Mamma Mia! (5-Star Theatricals), Sideways: In Concert (Via Reggia Productions), Evita: In Concert (Palos Verdes Performing Arts Center), Miracle on 34th Street, She Love’s Me (Actor’s Co-Op), Honeymoon in Vegas (Musical Theatre Guild), Assassins (Red Blanket Productions). Select orchestration/arranging credits: Māyā, King of Pangea, The Belles Are Swinging’, The Shadow by Mixed eMotion Theatrix, Cult of Love. Select film composition credits: Apricot, UnCredited. As a guest artist, he has worked with middle and high school students and is an adjunct faculty member at the USC School of Dramatic Arts, where he is also the director of the school's Musical Theatre Summer Conservatory.
CHRISTINE LAKIN (CHOREOGRAPHY)
Christine Lakin is a choreographer/director. She got her start choreographing by skeleton crewing for Emmy-nominated Mary Ann Kellogg in Showtime’s Reefer Madness. She choreographed all ten seasons of ABC’s The Goldbergs and directed half a dozen as well. Other television credits include the Netflix hit The Merry Gentlemen, The Rookie, Schooled, Unstable, Westworld, We Are Men, 90210, True Blood, Love Bites, Breaking In, Liv and Maddie and The Hard Times of RJ Berger. Commercials: KFC and Best Buy. Film: Easter Sunday, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, You Again, Parental Guidance. Theater: The Breakup Notebook (Garland Award), As U2 Like It (Ovation/LADCC Nom), Alice 2: Through the Looking Glass (Ovation, LADCC nom) Zanna Don’t (Ovation/LADCC Nom), Big: The Musical, 2 Gentleman of Chicago, A Charlie James Brown Christmas, A Stevie Wonderful Life, Sneaux.
MARK MENDELSON (SCENIC DESIGNER)
Mark designed The 6th Act's world premiere production of Sukkot, directed by Joel Zwick. Recent designs include the premier productions of Corktown '39, Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, and can i touch it? (all for Rogue Machine Theatre Co), as well as Tasty Little Rabbit (Moving Arts), A Beautiful Lie (directed and choreographed by Jamal Sims), The Civility of Albert Cashier (The Colony Theatre). Other designs include Lines In The Dust (Collaborative Artists’ Bloc/ Support Black Theatre), End of the Rainbow (OMG Productions), and Aerwacol (U.S. Premiere); as well as projects for Mattel and Disney Imagineering. His work has also been seen at The Skylight, Rubicon Theatre Co, La Mirada Theater, Pacific Symphony, Broadway by the Bay, Berkeley Playhouse, Diablo Theatre Co, 42nd Street Moon, and many more. Mark is a Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Award winner and has earned award noms from LA Weekly, Broadwayworld, and Theatre Bay Area. CalArts grad. See more at markmdesigns.com
CHRIS MOSCATIELLO (SOUND DESIGNER)
Chris is an award-winning sound designer, composer, music editor and music director for theater, television and film, and he is the Resident Sound Designer at Rogue Machine Theatre. TV highlights include The Walking Dead, Human Target, Eureka, Psych, Caprica, The Cape and Trauma. He has scored series and specials for National Geographic and The Discovery Channel, ZDF Germany, specials and promos for HBO, BBC, Animal Planet, MSNBC, and The History Channel. Theater highlights include The Kennedy Center, The Smithsonian Institution, The Shakespeare Theatre, Signature Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre, Rogue Machine, A Noise Within, Antaeus, Odyssey Theater, Skylight Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Road Theatre, Pacific Resident Theater, and he served as assistant conductor for the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera.
REBECCA CARR (COSTUME DESIGNER)
Rebecca is a costume and prop designer for theatre, television, and film. Theatre: The Civility of Albert Cashier (Colony Theatre), Cinderella’s Castle (StarKid), Alabaster, Freight, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Fountain Theatre), See You at the Funeral (LAX Fest) , Blood/Sugar (Plainwood Productions); I Decided I'm Fine, The Last Croissant, What Happened to Where I've Been, Dead Dog's Bone (Attic Collective). Design for Film: Tread. IATSE Local 705 Costumer: The Afterparty, Loot, Rutherford Falls, The Valet, Our Flag Means Death, King Richard, 9-1-1, The Prom, Ratched, American Crime Story: Versace, The Politician, American Horror Story 6, 8, & 9. BFA in Costume Design from Emerson College.
MEGAN TRAPANI (Props/Set Dressing)
Megan is absolutely thrilled to join the Kid Gloves team! Her previous theatre credits include The Pillowman (2023), California Suite (2024), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2024), and It’s A Wonderful Life (2024) with Season 10 Stage Productions, as well as Corktown ‘39 (2025) with Rogue Machine Theatre. With 6th Act: Outside Mullingard (2025). When she’s not crafting, Megan can be found volunteering around town, on set assisting, and wrangling decorations for weddings.
NED MOCHEL (Violence Designer)
Ned has worked in the Los Angeles theater community for twenty years. Geffen Playhouse: Guards at the Taj, Bad Jews, Wait Until Dark, American Buffalo, Miss Julie, Superior Donuts, and The Jacksonian which was also produced off-Broadway at the Acorn Theater in NYC; Antaeus Theatre Company: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Native Son, and Hamlet; Circle X: Trevor; VS Theatre: Gus’s Fashion And Shoes, Cops and Friends of Cops (2013 LADC Award recipient), On an Average Day (2009 LADC Award recipient); Tracy Letts’ Killer Joe and Bug (west coast premieres); Other notable action choreography credits include Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago): True West, The Song of Jacob Zulu (Broadway) and The Lyric Opera’s (Chicago) McTeague, directed by Robert Altman.
MICHELLE HANZELOVA-BIERBAUER (Marketing & Graphic Design)
Michelle is a visual creative designer with a passion for storytelling through art. Best known for her work as a theatre poster designer, she has created hundreds of designs for productions across Los Angeles and New York City. Over the past two decades, Michelle has worn many creative hats: stage manager, projection designer (Ovation Award nominee for Best Projections Design in Earthquakes in London, 2020), producer, and dedicated advocate for the arts: often found discussingtheatre and design late into the night on Los Angeles sidewalks. She currently serves as Marketing Director at Rogue Machine Theatre. In addition, Michelle often works as Art Department Coordinator for prolific designer Arae Webner, collaborating on projects for artists including Usher, Lizzo, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo, Imagine Dragons and so on. When she’s not bringing creative visions to life, Michelle enjoys the charm and breathing hazard of dark, dusty theatres, the company of her wife and their boyfriend, one of their two dogs, most of their seven cats, and, of course, corn.
AMELIA TACY (Violence Designer)
Amelia Tacy is an LMU Theatre Arts graduate. At LMU, she stage managed productions including Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Bare, Much Ado About Nothing, and Carrie. She most recently stage managed Wife Material at The Elysian and While I Fall Asleep/Johnny Magnum with Il Dolce Theatre Company. She would like to thank all the wonderful performers, designers, and production team members who helped Kid Gloves come together!
ANDREW SCHMADEKE (Lighting Designer)
Andrew Schmadeke is an award-winning lighting designer and technical director for the arts and live entertainment. Recent credits include theatrical projects with Ensemble Theatre Company Santa Barbara, The Wallis Annenberg, A Noise Within, Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory, and Boston Court Theatre. He is the proud recipient of the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award, LA Drama Critics Circle Award and the NAACP Theatre Award. He holds an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University. www.schmedakelightingdesign.com
SAMI KOLKO (Producer)
Sami Kolko has a diverse background spanning film, television, and theatre. This year, three of her short films were showcased at prestigious festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, LA Shorts International Film Festival, and HollyShorts. She is currently in post-production on two feature films, and a pilot. Most recent theatre producing credits include Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies (dir. Joel Zwick), and the World Premiere of The Brothers Abelson since 1946 by Dennis Danziger (dir. Matthew Leavitt). Sami is thrilled to return to the theatre world as part of the producing team for the World Premiere of Kid Gloves.