PROFESSIONAL THEATER IN THE CATSKILL MOUNTAINS
STAFF
SARAH RENY, Founder & Artistic Director
s.reny@catskillmountainshakespeare.com
Sarah (she/her) grew up in the theater. She is originally from Montreal, Canada, developed her craft in the UK, and ultimately made her way to New York where she now splits her time between the Catskills and Brooklyn. Sarah ran the largest Shakespeare company at Queen’s University for two years. As Artistic Director she doubled their audience numbers and grew the annual budget 50%. She was a Teaching Assistant for Dramaturgy & Drama 101 as well as a performer/educator in theatrical tours for young audiences at The Thousand Island Playhouse. She was also the Artistic Director of Vagabond Theater Company in Kingston, NY, played Macbeth in London, and has worked with many downtown NYC theaters such as The Tank. Sarah currently teaches Shakespeare classes in association with Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice. She believes in fostering equitabilty, access and diversity through the arts and general representation. She prides herself on her imagination, standard of excellence and believes that professional theater is amplified by community engagement. She received her MA in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and her BAH from Queen's University at Kingston. She has a home in West Kill, NY.
FRANK WILDERMANN, Managing Director
f.wildermann@catskillmountainshakespeare.com
Frank (he/him) has been spending time in the Catskills since he was a boy. His farm in Prattsville, NY has been in his family for 4 generations. As a former actor, he co-founded two separate theater companies, one in Los Angeles and another in New York City. Favorite theater memories include assisting Emmy-winner David Lee at The Pasadena Playhouse, directing Hamlet in Los Angeles, and playing Friar Laurence twice in two separate productions of Romeo and Juliet. He also has been teaching yoga, for over a decade, to various arts organizations including: New York City Ballet, The Calder Foundation, Feng Yi-Dance (Taiwan), among others and leads yoga retreats all over the world. Frank is a graduate of Middlebury College (BA), an Eagle Scout, and watched the sun rise from the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
listed alphabetically by last name
LAUREN HENNESSY, Bookkeeper
Lauren grew up in Connecticut and studied accounting at the University of Dayton. She has spent most of her career working with nonprofits and has always been inspired by the impact they have on their community. She has never been drawn to the stage but holds a special place in her heart for the timeless works of Shakespeare.
STEPHANIE JANSSEN, CMS Youth Company Associate Artistic Director
Stephanie (she/her) is a New York-based actor who’s performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters across the country, and in film and television. Favorite experiences on stage include the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman (w/ Philip Seymour Hoffman, dir. Mike Nichols), off-Broadway in Clive, an adaptation of Brecht’s Baal (dir. Ethan Hawke), and her contribution to new works at the Long Wharf, Denver Center, the McCarter and the Humana Festival/Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. She taught Shakespeare to kids in Brooklyn with Child’s Play NY, serving as an acting coach/assistant director on her adaptations of plays including Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and A Winter’s Tale. She taught introductory acting at Middlebury College, her alma mater, and is the author of The Umbrella Plays, a collection of short works that received the Outstanding Play award at the NY Fringe Festival. Stephanie earned an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and two daughters.
JOE MASTRACCHIO, Development Director
Joe (he/him) grew up in New Haven, CT, and currently lives in Pleasant Valley, NY, working as a Leadership Gift Officer for Vassar College. He graduated from Williams College in 2010, earning a degree in English with honors for his thesis work on Shakespeare and Dante. Between 2011 and 2016 he served as the Director of the Williams Club of New York, where his primary responsibilities included membership development, event planning, and communications. In 2016 he founded Red Note Rehearsal Studios in Ridgewood, Queens, and ran that business as sole proprietor until selling it in 2019. Since early 2020 he has been working in Development at Vassar College. He was hired as Assistant Director of Annual Giving, in which role he coordinated programming, outreach, and communications for alumni volunteers, in support of the College’s $10M+ annual fund goal. In late 2022 he was promoted to the role of Leadership Gift Officer, managing a portfolio of roughly 250 leadership giving prospects ($100K+). This position involves frequent travel to cultivate individual relationships with high-capacity alums in support of the College’s current $500M Fearlessly Consequential comprehensive campaign. While he’s never acted in any plays, his high school English teacher told him he had the perfect voice for reading as Claudius. In his free time he plays music, watches old movies, and runs D&D games.
BRITTANY PROIA, Producer
Brittany (she/ her) is a Hudson Valley based producer, director, performer, and educator. Brittany works with arts organizations across the Hudson Valley such as - the Hudson Valley Performing Arts Laboratory – a women+ led devised theatre and arts education organization, Shadowland Stages - a professional theatre company in its 38th season, and she serves as Dramatists Guild Ambassador for Eastern New York – providing support and education to the region's playwrights. From 2017 to January 2020, Brittany served as the founding co-artistic director of DENIZEN Theatre in New Paltz, NY producing 9 full productions and 30+ readings and events. Brittany has assisted in the development of new work with MTF, The PiTCH at Rev Theatre Co, NYMF, BMI MT Workshop, Powerhouse Theatre, the Voices of Women Theatre Festival in Tampa, and the New Georges Supported Production program. Brittany is passionate about responsibly and sustainably creating theatrical work that fosters lasting social change. Brittany holds an MFA from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training and a Bachelor of Music from NYU’s Steinhardt School. She is a proud member of AEA, the Dramatists Guild, a graduate of the Ulster Leadership Development Institute, and a proud ‘key’- of The Ring of Keys; a national network of queer women, trans, and gender non-conforming artists. brittanyproia.com
CAROLYN MARIE WRIGHT, Education & Outreach Director / CMS Youth Company Artistic Director
c.wright@catskillmountainshakespeare.com
Carolyn (she/her) hails from upstate New York and splits her time between the Catskills and the Bronx, where she teaches English at Fordham Prep. She is passionate about youth advocacy, community engagement, and anti-racism. Her experiences as a performer, director, and arts educator run the gamut and include work with a variety of professional theatre companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. She cares deeply about creating opportunities for folks of all ages to find joy, healing, and growth through the arts -- both on and off stage. Favorite theatre moments include directing The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane at Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix, producing the Geffen Playhouse Veterans Playwriting & Performance Workshop in Los Angeles, and teaching clowning and comedy to terminally ill children and teens at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut. In addition to her role at CMS, Carolyn is the Theatre Program Director at Onteora Club in Tannersville. She is a graduate of Yale University (BA), New York University, Steinhardt (MA), UCLA School of Theatre, Film & Television (MFA), and The Second City Conservatory, and a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and American Alliance for Theatre & Education.