Arts Mentorship Program - Past Mentors
Click on the person’s name to see more info. Click the name again to close the dropdown.
Arts Mentorship Program (AMP)
- Home
- /
- Artistic Overview
- /
- About the RYET (Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA!) Program
- /
- Arts Mentorship Program
AMPlifying Careers for BIPOC Youth at TADA!
TADA! Youth Theater’s new Arts Mentorship Program (AMP) is here to AMPlify the need for our BIPOC youth to feel informed of and welcome into non-performing theater careers.
At the heart of TADA! is the Resident Youth Ensemble: a unique, award-winning, completely free, pre-professional theater training and positive youth development program. The Resident Youth Ensemble of TADA! (RYET) annually serves between 50-60 youth, the majority of which are BIPOC aged 8-18 that hail from all over New York City and New Jersey. Membership in RYET is by audition only.
Through their participation in AMP, members of the Ensemble who identify as BIPOC will learn from mentors about various career opportunities through panel discussions, one-on-one meetings, and hands-on work at TADA!. Possible positions include: set design, costume design, lighting and sound design, music directing, producing/artistic directing, directing, choreography, playwriting, composing, lyric-writing, and stage managing.
This instruction and supervision will take place virtually; at TADA! during Productions, Staged Readings, Cabarets, and smaller events; and, offsite with members and their mentors.
TADA!’s staff will identify and develop relationships with BIPOC theater professionals, and then match them with Ensemble Members interested in their specific fields of work.
April Rozier
April Rozier got her love for theater and started her career at age 5. She began her training at the Walnut Street Theater in Philly, and performed throughout the East Coast. After attending AMDA New York, she found her passion working with Youth Theaters and Camps. She has been a part of several Arizona debuts, her favorites include choreographing Nevermore, The Life of Edgar Allan Poe, and stage managing Heathers.
After traveling and working bicoastal for over ten years, she is excited to be back in New York mentoring and training the next generation of creatives.
Jay Adana
Composer/Lyricist: The Loophole (Public Theater), The Woodsman (New World Stages, lyricist), The Last Tiger in Haiti (Berkeley Rep/La Jolla Playhouse), Fingerpaintings (Playwrights Horizons Downtown). Performance: The Loophole (Public Theater), On the Head of a Pin (59E59), Joe’s Pub. 2018 Jonathan Larson Award, 2019 Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow. Training: #BARS workshop, #BARS Residency at The Public Theater, BFA SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theater Arts and Film
Luis Salgado
Luis Salgado is an international director, choreographer and educator from Puerto Rico based in New York City and who most recently opened his own adaptation of the musical FAME to great reviews in Washington D.C. He was the Assistant Latin Choreographer of In the Heights on Broadway, which won four Tony Awards.
Last year Luis worked as the associate director/choreographer of Cirque de Soliel’s Paramour in Hamburg, Germany. Among the productions he has directed/choreographed in the United States and abroad are the fantasy musical Ella Es Colombia in Bogota, Colombia with MISI Musicals, the Holland Production of On Your Feet, Ragtime, To Be or Not to Be . . . A Shakespearean Experience, Aida, The Musical, Amigo Duende, The Musical, Bountiful, Zuccotti Park, Song of Solomon, Speed the Plow, The Tempest and Fuerza y Pasión in Lima Peru.
In 2017, Luis directed and choreographed the U.S premiere of the Spanish version of In The Heights at GALA Theatre in Washington D.C which received nine 2018 Helen Hayes Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction and Best Choreography.
He has appeared on Broadway in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, ROCKY, In The Heights, On Your Feet, as well as Off-Broadway shows and Broadway tryouts The Mambo Kings (Frankie Suarez), Fame on 42nd Street (Joe Vegas, understudy) and Aida, among others.
Film credits include: American Gangster, Dirty Dancing 2, Havana Nights, the television remake of Dirty Dancing, Enchanted and Step Up 2, The Streets (Alejandro), for which he also was assistant choreographer.
Luis is the founder/director of R.Evolución Latina, an affiliate of the non-profit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Luis’ personal mission as an artist and a leader is to empower society through the arts to make a change for the better.
Elizabeth Addison
Elizabeth Addison is a multi-hyphenate whose work exists at the intersection of Theatre Arts and Recovery. As a person in long term recovery, Elizabeth understands the power of the Arts and storytelling to heal and transform. Elizabeth has written three musicals about her recovery journey. Her first musical, “This is Treatment,” just had a sold out run at Northeastern University, and her third musical, “Chasing Grace,” was just accepted into the SheNYC Arts summer festival. Elizabeth was a part of the MUSE Mentorship program where she was mentored by Broadway musicians. This mentorship program resulted in an opportunity for Elizabeth to observe the rehearsal process and the remounting of “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway. Elizabeth was just appointed The Artistic Director of New Play Development at 2nd Act, an organization whose mission is to change the way people and communities respond to the impact of substance use through theatre and drama therapy. She is on the Advisory Board for The Recovery Project at Florida Studio Theatre. The Recovery Project will have a summer residency at NYSF where Elizabeth will also be one of their resident artists. Elizabeth is a creative recovery coach at Revolution Recovery where she also facilitates Recovery Storytelling workshops. This September, Elizabeth will be leading a storytelling through song workshop at the prestigious SHE RECOVERS conference in Chicago, and her fourth musical, “In Between…” will premiere at 54 Below in October 2023.
Julia Jordan Kamanda
Julia Jordan Kamanda, singer/songwriter, music mentor, and owner of J3Music Studios, is on a music mission. Her focus is on spreading a positive musical message to encourage and empower others.
In 2010, Julia co-founded the Creative Arts Initiative in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and traveled there to teach young women new ways to express themselves creatively through the arts. She currently offers songwriting, guitar, and vocal mentoring sessions to students of all ages; blogs about the experience of being a musician and a mom on her “Music Mommy” blog; and offers a music supervision service for independent filmmakers.
As a songwriter, Julia’s music is acoustic-based; but the arrangements go much deeper, pulling inspiration from her jazz and folk roots and natural R&B soul. On her debut album Urban Legacy, released in 2007, she presents songs about light, love and trusting life’s changes- lessons she learned from her musical genius father, Stanley Jordan, and her poetess mother, Sandy Kilpatrick Jordan. At 30 years old, she already has 21 years of professional performance experience and her voice has carried her around the world to grace the stages of legendary music venues, including the Buzios Jazz y Blues Festival in Brazil; the Cairo Opera House in Egypt; the Long Beach Jazz Festival in California; and Alice Tully Hall in New York City, among many others.
Kathy D. Harrison
Kathy D. Harrison is a multi-disciplined performing artist, songwriter and playwright. Her original musical titled, The Movement- An A Cappella Musical, was selected to perform for the 2019 New York Theater Festival – Winterfest, the 2015 National Black Theatre Festival, Puffin Foundation and The Greene Space – WNYC live webcast. Her musical Southern Boys – Sons of Sharecroppers was featured at the 2017 National Black Theatre Festival and will be presented by Charleston Black Theater in October 2019.
With an extensive background as an Arts Educator, Kathy D. Harrison was selected to be a recipient of the Jubilation Foundation 2 Years Artist Fellowship. She has spent the past 15 years working successfully in Arts Administration and Arts Management, designing theater, music and dance curriculum for school programs, social service agencies, and non-profit efforts. Social advocacy and purpose-driven creative arts are Ms. Harrison’s lifelong commitment and purpose.
She is a visionary leader with a strong entrepreneurial drive. She is the Founder and Managing Artistic Director for Diversity Youth Theater; a performing arts company based in NJ. Merging her creative abilities with her management skills, she developed several unique Arts projects that helped to brand the grass-roots company into a reputable establishment. In 2014, she started Performing Artists United, a membership based arts collective for young adults. The membership based ensemble company develops original works for touring purposes, while also serving as the leadership umbrella for Diversity Youth Theater.
Simran Pal Kaur
Simran Pal Kaur is an NYC based multidisciplinary artist who graduated with an honors Multimedia and Performing Arts degree with a concentration in theatre from Lehman College. She is ambitiously curious about diving deep into the psyche of each role at hand to unlock its true nature and mysteries. She has played a vast array of roles and has delved into works ranging from Chekov to Shakespeare. Acting credits: Pearl (Locked in Love), Masha (Three Sisters), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet). Production/stage management credits: Future Classics Festival 2023 (Titan Theatre Company, Queens Theatre), Spring Dance Concert 2022 & 2023 (Lehman College), How to create massive change… (The Tank), Dance In Dialog 2022 & 2023 (Lehman College). Directorial credits: The Love Hate Club (Off-off-bdwy, Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, Theatre Row), One Night Standoff (a finalist for the Queens Shortplay Festival, The Secret Theatre; and for Queer Love Festival, Lehman art gallery). More credits plus contact info available on website: www.simranpalkaur.com
Gia Gan
Malaysian-born Gia Gan, holds a MM in Music from the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory College of Music and a BA in Arts from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music. Gia was an Assistant Conductor at the Young People’s Chorus of New York City (YPC) where she conducts young choristers ages 7-18 all over New York City. In China, she was Assistant Conductor at the Children and Young Women’s Choir of the China National Symphony Orchestra serving over 3,000 children of all ages and the associate music director at the Beijing Children’s Theatre Arts. She has also directed the music in such New York City productions as Wizard of Oz Jr., Peter Pan Jr., Children of Eden, Godspell, and I Do! I Do!, among others. Besides being a conductor, pianist and singer, Gia is also a composer at the Advanced BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop.
"What I can say at this point, is that I was blown away by the level of connection that I felt with all, and in a virtual space. The energy and sense of community were surprisingly beautiful. I am looking forward to this experience of AMP with TADA."
Kathy D. Harrison
Playwright, Songwriter, Director