LYNDA BLACKMON LOWERY (Producer/Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom Memoir Author) began her civil rights activism in Selma, Alabama, in the early 60s, when the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) activists organized Lowery and other area children and teenagers to participate in the civil rights movement. She marched on “Bloody Sunday” and “Turn Around Tuesday,” and is the youngest marcher to walk every step of the successful March from Selma to Montgomery. Mrs. Lowery’s early involvement in the struggle against prejudice has been the foundation for her civil and human rights work throughout her life. She retired as Senior Case Manager at Cahaba Metal Health in Selma and is the author of Turning 15 on The Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley.
ALLY SHEEDY (Adaptor for the Stage) is an editor, author, actor and film professor. Her first film was opposite Sean Penn in Bad Boys (1983). She has appeared in over 60 films and television projects, notably War Games, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, Short Circuit, High Art (Best Actress-Independent Spirit Awards, National Society of Film Critics), Life During Wartime (director Todd Solondz, Gotham nomination). Ally played Yang in USA network series “psych” from 2009 to 2014. She has published two books, is the proud mom of Beckett Lansbury, and teaches film at CUNY.
FRACASWELL HYMAN (Director) is a director, television writer, producer, author, father, husband, and actor (not necessarily in that order). His stage directing credits include To Kill A Mockingbird, The Little Dog Laughed, and The Daddy Machine. He has created and/or produced shows for The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Workshop. As an actor, Mr. Hyman has appeared in August Wilson’s Fences as Troy, The Odd Couple as Felix Unger, and Smokey Joe’s Café. Mr. Hyman’s middle grade novel Mango Delight is available in all bookstores now. For more information, check out www.fracaswellhyman.com.
VOZA RIVERS (Co-Producer/New Heritage Repertory Theatre) founding member of Harlem’s New Heritage Repertory Theatre (“NHRT”), (est. 1964), is one of the country’s leading African American theater, music, and events producers, and documentary filmmakers. Voza has produced and/or co-produced theater, television projects, film festivals, and the historic HARLEM WEEK FESTIVAL now celebrating its 46th year anniversary. He has also produced tributes in Japan, South Africa, British Columbia, and the UK. Highlights include the TONY and GRAMMY nominated hit Broadway musical, “Sarafina!, by award-winning South African playwright Mbongeni Ngema, The OBIE award winning Woza Albert!; and the TONY nominated Asinamali! (also by Ngema) , as well as The Tragedy of Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, (featuring leading Black actors from the Royal Court Theatre Company and National Theatre of Great Britain), Emergency and Through by the Night by AUDELCO AND OBIE award winning playwright and actor Daniel Beaty, Savior by international journalist/playwright Esther Armah, and the OBIE award winning play The Huey P. Newton Story at the Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture in Harlem. In 2020, Voza joined the producing team for Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, with Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Miranda Barry, and Amy Sprecher, which will be a New Heritage Theater Group co-production for the 2020-2021 season.
More about NHRT on the About page.
ELSPETH LEACOCK and SUSAN BUCKLEY (Co-Authors) together have written five books on American history. They first met Lynda Lowery when they included her in their book Journeys for Freedom. Inspired by her story, they collaborated with Lowery to write Turning 15. Leacock is the author of a number of books including Geography Brainquest and The African Experience in New York. Buckley was the founding editor of AppleSeeds magazine and is the author of many children’s books. Currently they are writing a YA book on voting rights.
JOSHUAH BRIAN CAMPBELL (Music Director/Composer of “Sing Out, March On”) is a singer, songwriter, composer, ministry worker, and actor originally from Cheraw, South Carolina. Most recently, Joshuah has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for composing, with Cynthia Ervin, Stand Up!, the title song in the movie, Harriet starring Erivo, Leslie Odom and Janelle Monae. He believes music is church and home and bodies in motion and people trying to change things with what they have. Joshuah lives in NYC and studies at Union Theological Seminary.
KEITH A. TRUAX (Lighting Designer) is excited to be joining the company of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom. Keith is a Manhattan based designer who has worked in theatre, dance, concert and architecture. Recent work has been seen with Cardinal Stages, Point Park University, PICT Classic Theatre, Lincoln Park Performing Arts, Pittsburgh CLO, New London Barn Playhouse, Blumenthal Performing Arts, Utah Valley University, Off-Broadway and many more. Keith holds an MFA in Lighting Design from Carnegie Mellon University. For additional information please visit www.keithtruax.com & @keith.a.truax.lighting. By special arrangement with United Scenic Artists 829.
KRISTEN FERGUSON (Projection Designer) makes images. Kristen designed the animation that accompanied Sleater-Kinney’s June 2019 performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Subsequently she has made four official lyric videos for the band. Kristen also designed the backdrop traveling with Sleater-Kinney on The Center Won’t Hold tour. She then designed the cover for the 7-inch vinyl recording of their single Animal. Kristen works as a projection designer in many regional and off-Broadway theaters. Broadway Bares is probably her yearly favorite. Kristen earned a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University in 2015. Check out her almost-always-out-of-date-website at projectedfeelings.com.
MEGAN CULLEY (Sound Designer) is an NYC-based Sound Designer and Composer. Credits: Cullud Wattah and The Loophole (The Public Theater,) Antigone (Cleveland Play House,) Terminus (NYTW Next Door,) Pony Up and Plain Brown Box (The New School,) Grounded (Dobama Theatre,) Gypsy (NYU Steinhardt,) Roan @ the Gates (Luna Stage,) Inanimate and Good Friday (the Flea Theater.) meganculley.com
AMANDA LEE (Costumer) Recent credits include Forever Plaid, Souvenir, Tintypes, Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White, Daughter of Ruin (film), Twelfth Night, Seussical!, Romeo and Juliet, Mad Rush (premier). Additional projects include Guys and Dolls, Saturday Night Fever, Anything Goes. You can see more of Amanda's work at designbyamandalee.com.
PAT McCORKLE, McCORKLE CASTING, LTD. (Casting) Broadway: Over 50 productions including; On The Town, Amazing Grace, End of the Rainbow, A Few Good Men. etc. Off-Broadway: Over 60 productions; Highlights, Our Town (Barrow Street), Freud’s Last Session, Toxic Avenger, Almost Maine, Driving Miss Daisy. Regional Theatre: Guthrie, Barrington Stage, St. Louis Rep, George Street Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public, Connecticut Rep, and multiple hundreds of individual productions. Feature films: Senior Moment, Year by the Sea, Premium Rush, Ghost Town, The Thomas Crown Affair, Die Hard with a Vengeance, School Ties, etc. Television: Twisted, Humans for Sesame Street, Hack (CBS), Californication (Emmy Nomination), Max Bickford (CBS), Chappelle’s Show, Strangers with Candy, etc. mccorklecasting.com
IRENE GANDY (Community Outreach Producer) has worked on Broadway over 3 decades with Broadway producer Jeffrey Richards. Producer Credits: The Gershwins; Porgy and Bess (Tony Award) and Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill both starring Audra MacDonald. Community Outreach credits: American Son starring Kerry Washington and The Great Society written by Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan and starring Brian Cox.
DAVONE MADISON (Director of Social Media Marketing) has been called a “magician" of social media. Her clients are in industries including fashion, podcasts, and real estate. They are all amazed how, in a few short months, their followers on IG, Facebook, and Twitter go from zero to the thousands. Ms. Madison is also the creator of LadyDay Designs, specializing in residential architecture & interior design.
EVE KELLY (Company Stage Manager) BA Theatre/Fine Arts, University at Albany. Select credits include NYC: Fern Hill (59E59, A1), Sasha Velour’s Pridegowns (Abron’s Art Center, A/V Tech), Series A Marathon Lepers (EST, RSM), Amahl and the Night Visitors (On Site Opera, PA). Tours: The Monster Who Ate My Peas (ArtsPower, CSM) Turning 15…(Loire Valley, TD) Polkadots (Duda Productions, ASM/A1) Regional: Summer Stage Marathon (CapRep, SM), 100 Years (Troy Foundry Theatre, PSM), West Side Story (BSC, SM Intern), Ragtime (Park Playhouse, PSM). Thanks everyone for their hard work & commitment to telling this wonderful story! Love to B.A.L. Follow: @auqwirdtraveler, evekellytech.com.
REUBEN ROSENTHAL (Technical Director) enjoys lightboards by ETC, novels by Jasper Fforde, and pants by Duluth Trading Company. A DC native, Reuben studied lighting and production management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His technical work in DC, for the likes of Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre, and GALA Hispanic Theatre has garnered over 20 Helen Hayes Awards and nominations for designers and productions, while his work in NYC with Queens Theatre garnered him a living wage. When not Technically Directing, Reuben can be found nonexistent, as he always manages to find himself Technically Directing something. His full CV can be found at www.luxexfulmen.com.
D. DUMEBI EGBUFOR (Company Manager) is a multifaceted professional with vast experiences in the entertainment and media industry. Dumebi has served in multiple leadership roles behind-the-scenes, including production manager, script supervisor, stage manager, location manager, producer, casting associate, promotions coordinator, and costume/props assistant. She has formal training in broadcast journalism, fine arts, television news production, and organizational leadership at Howard University, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Union University, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Recent leadership positions: The Savage Queen, A Christmas Carol, Relationship Chronicles, 39 Steps, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, A Raisin in the Sun, Eubie, and Black Journey.
JORDYN SMITH (Production Coordinator) is delighted and grateful to be joining the team for Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom. Most recently, Jordyn worked as a literary assistant and agent at the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency, where she was first introduced to Lynda’s inspirational story. Jordyn has an extensive history in the arts working as a professional actor and singer, and she is happy to be returning to the theatre! Outside of Turning 15, Jordyn works as an independent editor helping to bring other writers’ stories to life.