- Cathy Bencivenga
- Robert Campbell
- Jorge Castillo
- Heather Siobhan Curran
- Dominic Cuskern
- Ken Dray
- Neal J. Freeman
- Mary Ruth Goodley
- Resource Council
Cathy Bencivenga
(Director of Production; Board of Directors, Member-at-Large) Cathy relocated to Park Slope in September of 2005 from Georgetown, TX via Berkeley, CA. In Texas, Cathy attended Southwestern University, where she earned a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Management, a major she designed herself. While in college, Cathy held various administrative positions including House Manager & Volunteer Coordinator and Assistant to the Artistic Director, in addition to producing, performing, stage managing, and providing dramaturgy within the department. Following her graduation in 2004, Cathy completed a yearlong position as the General/Company Management Intern at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Cathy now serves as the General Manager for TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, a Manhattan company dedicated to producing rarely-seen or neglected plays of literary merit. For The Gallery Players, Cathy served as Associate Producer for Take Me Out and as Producer for The Actor’s Nightmare & Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You by Christopher Durang. Cathy is proud and excited to be joining The Gallery Players’ Board of Directors.
Robert Campbell
(Board of Directors, Treasurer) With set and lighting design, directing, and theatre production management experience that began in his teens, Associate Principal Robert Campbell has over 20 years’ experience in all types of theatre and in a wide variety of formats, from experimental and arena to thrust and proscenium stages. He provides project management, programming, planning and design expertise on projects ranging from major performing arts centers to theatres and recital halls for college and university campuses. He is also expert at 3D modeling of auditorium sightlines and seating layouts. He currently is Project Manager for Schermerhorn Symphony Hall for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Four Seasons Centre, the new home of the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, Ontario. His other projects include the Long Center, Austin, Texas; the new Harman Centre for the Washington Shakespeare Theatre and the Arena Stage theatre, also in Washington, D.C. and the renovation of the beloved Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT. He managed the new construction of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX and the adaptive reuse of Second Stage Theatre in New York City. Bob also managed the renovations and expansion of Chicago Orchestra Hall and the Victory Theatre in Evansville, Indiana; designed seating plans and sightlines for the award winning 2,750-seat New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; the 2,000-seat Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth; the 2,400-seat Opera House in Miami; and the New Victory Theatre, New York City. His academic projects include a new experimental theatre for Yale School of Drama, a 400-seat recital hall for Drew University, and performing arts centers at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX and the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. He holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama, where he studied theatre engineering and planning, acoustics, and lighting design. He designed productions at both Yale Repertory Theatre and Yale School of Drama, including The Tempest, Shadow of a Gunman, and Glengarry Glen Ross. Robert also has designed lighting for Off-Off Broadway productions, including Anything Goes, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, House of Blue Leaves, Richard III, Threepenny Opera, and Shimmer and assisted Jules Fisher on the touring production of The Will Rogers Follies. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Gallery Players of Brooklyn, where he directed the company’s productions of The Odd Couple and ‘Night, Mother.
Jorge Castillo
(Member-At-Large) is a Social Worker by day and a key figure in the operations of The Gallery Players by night. Jorge assists designers in the construction of sets for each play and regularly acts as house manager and box office manager for Gallery Players performances. Always a friendly face at the theater, Jorge is beloved on both sides of the footlights and is the quiet hero of The Gallery Players.
Heather Siobhan Curran
(Artistic Director; Board of Directors, Vice President) has been involved with The Gallery Players since 1999 when she appeared in Tickets Please by Tony Sportiello as part of the Black Box New Play Festival. At GP she has directed Deathtrap, The Weir, Side Man, The Marriage of Bette and Boo and has appeared as Arsinoe in The Misanthrope. At Gallery she has produced mainstage productions of Holiday, Cloud 9 and Once on this Island. In the Black Box New Play Festival Heather has served as executive and co-producer during 2003-05 when she also developed and directed world premiere productions of Joe Lauinger’s Holy Child and The Wedding Album. Heather has also directed many one-act plays including last season’s Bon Voyage, Mr. Phelps! By Daniel Damiano. This season she thrilled direct the first New York City revival of Terrance McNally’s play Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams. She has worked as a director in New York and in Rochester, New York, at Rochester Children’s Theatre, Nazareth College (adjunct professor), JCC Centerstage, and at Blackfriars Theatre, where she was on the Board of Directors for several years serving as the play selection chair. Heather also has worked in Germany (Artistic Director of Kuhberg Theatre) and Italy at English-speaking theatres. Favorite directing credits include: Tartuffe, Talking With…, Nunsense, Snoopy!, Play it Again Sam, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Crimes of the Heart, E/R (Emergency Room), and Look Back in Anger. New York acting credits include: Macbeth, Richard II (Duchess of Gloucester/York), Henry V (Expanded Arts). Her Regional acting credits include: Rita in Educating Rita, the Witch in Into the Woods, Lois Lane in Superman, Merteuil in Les Lisasons Dangereuses (Blackfriars Theatre), and Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (JCC Centerstage). Heather has a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from the Cornish Institute in Seattle, Washington. She lives with her husband in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Dominic Cuskern
(Director of Family Programming; Board of Directors, Member-at-Large) is a member of The Pearl Theatre’s resident acting company. At The Pearl he has appeared in numerous productions, including The Phantom Lady, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, A Will of His Own, Andromache, The Cherry Orchard, Richard III, Blithe Spirit, The Oresteia, The Way of The World, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Twelfth Night. Mr. Cuskern appeared on Broadway in Inherit The Wind, and he was seen across the country as part of the national tour of Victor/Victoria. He created the role of Ganesha, The Hindu God, in Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and appeared Off-Broadway in Prelude & Liebestod (Manhattan Class Company), Tibet Does Not Exist (Tribeca Performing Arts Center), and Ascendancy (Rattlestick). Regionally, he has made appearances in Philadelphia, Hartford, Puerto Rico, and Alaska.
Ken Dray
(Member-at-Large) has been an active participant in productions at The Gallery Players, and joined the Board of Directors twelve years ago. Ken is committed to The Gallery Players’ continuing mission to offer quality theatre at affordable prices to the diverse neighborhood of Park Slope, and and to all of the New York City area. He has played a variety of roles, including Senex in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Shultz in Cabaret, Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls, Uncle Willie in Bent, and Firs in The Cherry Orchard, among many others. Ken also is an accomplished singer and cabaret performer, playing in many venues along the East Coast and Las Vegas. Ken is a resident of Brooklyn Heights, where he lives with his partner of more than 30 years and Miss Greta (who refuses to admit to being a Dachshund, preferring instead to be the Lady of the House and Professional Hostess.)
Neal J. Freeman
(Member-at-Large) is a director, producer, and writer living in NYC since 2004. For The Gallery Players, he has directed The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), The Laramie Project, As You Like It, The Learned Ladies, The Wild Party, and The Reckoning of Kit & Little Boots. He has also been active in the Black Box festivals and thrown in a sound design or two. Neal is an Associate Artist with the Cornell University Department of Theatre, Film, and Dance, and and the artistic director of Engine37 Theater Company.
Mary Ruth Goodley
(President Emeritus) has been with The Gallery Players since 1974 when she played a raisin in an original children’s play. Since that time she has produced, directed, musical directed, acted, stage managed, designed costumes and sets, and every other job in the theater except lighting. She most enjoys directing and among her favorites are Assassins, Floyd Collins, Violet, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, and Three Penny Opera. She has directed more than 50 pieces for the Gallery Players and her directorial work has appeared regionally, internationally and at Alice Tulley Hall where she wrote the arrangement and played the piano for the title song of the evening’s work. She remains committed to The Gallery Players and helps with marketing.
Resource Council
Robert Doxsey, Concessions Manager
Mary Ruth Goodley, Marketing and Communications
Robin Mishik-Jett, Production Management Consultant
