PROGRAM 6

What Love Really Is by Caleb Moreno

Mo and Bee by Hannah Young

CALEB A MORENO – (ARI & PLAYWRIGHT) – Caleb Moreno (He/They) is currently a rising senior at Marymount Manhattan College earning a double B.A. in Playwrighting and Directing. Caleb's focus is on plays that highlight queer, POC characters dealing with ideas that call out society, inequalities for minorities, and the idea of life. Caleb has had a couple plays produced including their play “The First Boy I Loved” at the Vermont Young Playwrights Festival in 2019, and their play “What Love Really Is” at Marymount Manhattan College where it made it’s debut in April 2022. You can get in contact and find out more here,  IG: caleb.a.moreno, Website: https://www.calebamoreno.com

NATHANIEL CLARIDAD – (DIRECTOR) – Nathaniel Claridad (He/Him) is a Director and Actor based in New York City. Nathan original directed “What Love Really Is” at Marymount Manhattan College and is now thrilled to bring this story to a new space and for more people to see. He has been a part of numerous works including shows such as Mr. Poppers Penguins, Hookman, Buyer & Cellar, The Brother(s), 3 Karens & The Nerd, including many more.  IG: @ npclaridad, Website: https://npclaridad.weebly.com

KATIE HAAN – (INTIMACY DIRECTOR) – Katie Haan (She/Her) is an actor, intimacy director, and advocate for Sex Education. In addition to providing intimacy choreography for productions at Marymount Manhattan College, intimacy credits include Spring Awakening (Forager Theatre Company) and Ecstasy Behind the Forgotten (Film). Her Podcast, Your Gay Big Sis is available on all major audio streaming platforms. IG: @itskatiehaan, katiehaan.com

BEV FORT – (GRAHAM) – Bev Fort (She/They) is a BFA Acting major at Marymount Manhattan College. They have been a part of shows such as Horse Girls and Musical of Musicals (The Musical) during their first year. After this show they hope to find similar projects to work on. To get in contact or see previous work, go to bevfort.com IG: Bev_Fort, Website: https://bevfort.com

MARK RODRIQUEZ – (KOLE) – Mark Rodriguez he/him, was most recently seen as Aiden in Soundscapes at The Provincetown Playhouse. Originating Kole, he is delighted to reprise the role in such a heartfelt and powerful piece. Getting to work alongside an incredible team made the experience exponentially thrilling. Select credits include: Bobby in A Chorus Line (San Diego, CA), Young Jorge in Machine Learning (dir. Gabriel Vega Weissman at San Diego Rep). Big love to my wonderful family supporting from thousands of miles away! IG: @mmarkrodriquez 

Note from the writer: ​​My goals for the world premiere of this play are to give life to these ideas (old and new) and hold a space for queer fems to see themselves represented on stage. Above all, this play is my love letter to all of the queer friendships I’ve had in my own life; for me, this play is a chance to show all of the love, care, and pain queer friendships can hold in all their messy glory. “Mo and Bee” isn’t a sanitized sapphic love story or a flat queer trauma narrative; it’s a play that holds everything—even the most contradictory thoughts and feelings. It holds the pride with the shame, the spoken with the unsaid, the hurt with the love. It holds all of the tenderness I have for my community, and it’s a show that can only be put on with love.

Writer and Producer: Hannah Young (any pronouns)

Hannah (any pronouns) is a writer, researcher, and recent graduate from the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study. In school, they studied the intersection of gender, health, feminist science, and language while writing creatively on the side. This is the first play they’ve written and they couldn’t be more excited to share it with all of you this summer! This piece is dedicated to all of the queer friends they’ve had over the course of their life, they love them all dearly. IG: @lemonclever01

Director: Isabelle Del Sesto

Isabelle (she/her) is a rising senior at NYU, studying screenwriting and game design, with a true love for directing. She’s exhilarated to be returning to the job once again with Mo and Bee, and the incredible cast and crew surrounding the production. Isabelle dedicates her work on the show to her ever-supportive parents and her lovely girlfriend, Devon. IG: @space_cowboy_26

Set Designer: Destiny Tullis

Lighting Designer: Izzie Cava

Poster Artist: Dominique Lai

Cast

“Mo”: Regina Valmadrid

BIO: Regina is a bicoastal, Meisner-legacy trained actress based in New York City. She has worked professionally since she has been 16 years old and looks forward to adding a good amount more years on top of that. Within all works she is in, Regina is determined to expand the representation for Asian-American creatives, especially Asian-American women. Outside of acting, Regina models full time and enjoys watching baby bear cub videos. 誠にありがとうございます. IG: @r.egs

“Bee”: Divya Sarma

Divya Sarma (she/he/they) is a third year drama student at NYU Tisch. In addition to acting, Divya is a budding exponent of Carnatic vocal music and South Asian classical and folk dance. Divya loves working on projects that revolve around queerness, race, disability, and interpersonal dynamics, and is so glad to have worked on Mo and Bee. Outside of work, he enjoys singing and dancing nonstop, making ridiculously detailed backstories for D&D characters, and wondering how they will decorate their room, and never actually getting it done.

“Joel”: Calvin Osorio

Calvin Osorio is an actor, writer, and puppeteer from VA, based in NYC. He is a recent graduate, BFA, from NYU Tisch School of Drama. Most recently, he created and puppeteered for an upcoming kid's show, Miss Sarah's Music Room. Calvin can be found crafting puppets for various upcoming productions and locked away writing scripts. Love to my folks, Jack, and everyone who's supported me! @calvinosorio | calvinosorio.com