YOU LOVE THEATER. WE LOVE THEATER.
The goal of Island City Stage is to create quality theatrical experiences that focus on the LGBTQ community, but have a heart and soul that is truly universal.
The LGBT community is rich with history, with characters, with stories. And, at Island City Stage, it has found a place where a strong and vibrant voice is being given to those stories—ones of love and loss, of struggle and humor, of fear and courage.
Island City Stage was created by members of the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT community who saw a need for a local, professional theater that explored all aspects of the LGBT experience—accurately, creatively, and compassionately. And it was also important that the plays presented spoke to both LGBT individuals and heterosexuals. Plays that fostered interaction, understanding and acceptance of every individual’s unique perspective.
Founded in 2012, Island City Stage has gained the reputation of being a multi-award winning professional theater that provides stellar performances for those in the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors/Oakland Park communities. We specialize in developing new work in addition to featuring the works of playwrights who expose audiences to different voices and experiences. These works are brought to life on stage through the talents of professional artists, both union and non-union, whose credits include Broadway, Off Broadway, National Tours, major regional theatres, film and television.
Island City Stage is a place where you will laugh and cry and cheer. It’s a place to call our own—with plays to call our own. We look forward to seeing you when the curtain goes up!
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Angel Burgos
President
Angel Burgos is Executive Director of MBA Programs for the Chapman Graduate School of Business at Florida International University (FIU). Prior to joining FIU, he managed graduate programs for the George Mason University, University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He holds an MPA from Columbia University and BA from Hunter College. Beyond the academic world, he served as a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Senate and as a Fulbright Program Scholar in Germany.
Angel resides in Wilton Manors with his husband, David Jobin. They are thrilled to live in South Florida and support various cultural organizations that add to the vitality of “our” community.
Scott Clearwater
Vice President
Scott Clearwater has been a lawyer for over 30 years. He obtained a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester and a JD from the College of William and Mary. He has worked for law firms and corporations in Virginia, Washington, DC and New York City, practicing environmental law and managing a global Environmental, Health and Safety Department for Fortune 500 Corporations. He is a member of the Virginia and DC Bars.
Scott has been an active supporter of theatrical organizations such as the Studio Theater in Washington, DC and The Actors’ Fund in New York City.
Following his retirement, Scott became a permanent resident of Fort Lauderdale, where he and his husband have owned homes for almost 20 years. He is thrilled to continue his passion to support local theater and be a part of Island City Stage.
Timothy S. Hart
Treasurer
Mr. Hart is a CPA with over thirty years of vast accounting and finance experience including 10 years with KPMG, one the world’s largest international public accounting firms. Mr. Hart now runs a successful private practice that deals with all types of SEC matters; mergers and acquisitions; back and front office systems implementations; and various other accounting, finance and tax services.
Mr. Hart is an active participant in the community in which he lives. He is a Director and former chair of Oakland Park / Wilton Manors / Uptown Council of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce (formerly the OPWM Chamber of Commerce); director and former treasurer of the Dolphin Democrats; a board member of the Florida LGBT State Democratic Caucus; treasurer of the Island City Stage since inception, treasurer of the World Aids Museum; treasurer of Kids Playing for Kids; and
CPA for (and participant in) the SMART Ride, the second largest AIDS bike ride in the nation;
Mr. Hart holds bachelor’s degrees in Accountancy, Economics and Business Administration from Thomas More College, and has been a certified public accountant since 1984. Mr. Hart is married (36 years) and has two adult children. His oldest child is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and is currently a surgeon at the University of Chicago. His youngest child is completing his education at Florida State University.
Jeff Sacks
Secretary
Jeff has a BA degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Jeff’s passion for theater started during his 20 years living in NYC, and it has always been his goal to get involved with an “off-off-Broadway” type venue that focuses on challenging, unique theatrical works, and Island City Stage fits the bill to a T. Jeff is recently retired and lives with his husband John in Imperial Point, Fort Lauderdale.
Larry Ferber
Board Director
Larry Ferber spent thirty years in the TV business, earning numerous awards including three Emmy nominations. He served as Executive Producer on various shows including: Joan Rivers, Dennis Miller and Sally. After retiring from TV, he was the Artistic Director of the Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival for several seasons. Under his management, revenue grew from $75,000 to $350,000. He recently began his fifth season as the Artistic Director of the Living Room Theater at FAU.
Larry holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Northeastern University in Boston. He’s divorced and “on the market!”
Andy Fishman
Board Director
A native New Yorker, Andy has been a South Florida resident since 2004. He received his Bachelors in Business Administration and Masters in Business Administration from the George Washington University. After a successful career in marketing and advertising, Andy realized that it was time for a change and decided to take a leap of faith from the safety of a corporate career and follow his creative passions into the field of design. Andy obtained his degree in Kitchen & Bath Design (Century College), and is now an NKBA accredited Kitchen & Bath Designer and a Certified Aging in Place Specialist. He has enjoyed a successful career at Allied Kitchen & Bath for the past 12 years.
Andy’s design work has been published in Florida Décor, Boca Raton Design, City & Shore Magazine and the Gulfstream Lifestyle publications. His work can also be seen on houzz.com, alliedkitchenandbath.com and andyfischman.com.
Andy’s passion for live theater goes back to childhood, having had the opportunity to attend many Broadway productions at an early age. An avid theater goer and a patron of the arts in South Florida, Andy is honored to have been elected to the Board of Directors of Island City Stage in 2017, and looks forward to contributing to the growth of the company.
Edward Hashek
Board Director
Ed Hashek has worked in the IT Industry with a focus on financial technology services for the past 40+ years, including financial technology service companies associated with Marine Bank and M&I Bank in Milwaukee, WI. He has managed various areas including network management, product management and Risk and Fraud vendor management. Industry acquisitions resulted in working with FIS, a Jacksonville, FL based company and the world’s leader in technology products and services for the financial industry.
Ed has a BA degree in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin (Madison) and a MBA in Business IT from the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Ed has a passion for community service and has been an active member of the Boards of the Milwaukee Art Museum, The Milwaukee Repertory Theater Company, and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. Currently, he is a Board member of the Community Foundation of Broward County as well as the Island City Stage.
Ed lives with his spouse John in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Rick Karlin
Board Director
Rick is a playwright (Witches Among Us, Moving Day, Boy Meats Whirl, Spin Cycle and Seuss on the Loose), novelist (Show Biz Kids, Tales of the Second City, Death on the Rocks) and free-lance journalist (South Florida Gay News, Palette, Chicago Free Press, Gay Chicago Magazine, and OutTraveler.com). As a performer and emcee for charity events he is renowned for his quick wit and snappy repartee in his alter-ego, Charity Case.
In his previous (pre-FL) life he was a teacher for 30+ years. He has both a BA in Early Childhood Education and an MA in Gifted Education from Northeastern Illinois University, as well as an unfinished PHD, with his thesis topic focusing on LGBT youth. He was named one of Illinois Most Talented Teachers and ran the drama club at his school and wrote an original musical for his students to perform each year. He is currently spearheading the new Island City Stage Youth Drama Program.
Rick enjoys cooking and put himself through college by working as sous chef. He usually caters our opening night and donor appreciation parties where he enjoys matching the food to the theme of the play. He has a 42 year-old son (please tell him he looks too young to have a son that age) and lives in Fort Lauderdale with his husband of 25+ years, the noted poet and author, Gregg Shapiro.
Greg Lindeblom
Board Director
Greg Lindeblom is a recently retired Associate Professor of Economics and Business at Broward College, where he taught for the past sixteen years. Prior to that, he was engaged in a 24-year career in banking and finance that took him from Toronto to Portland, Oregon to San Francisco to New York City and finally back to Toronto. He worked for 11 years on Wall Street in the foreign exchange and money markets.
Greg has a B.A. (Honours) in Political Science and Economics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He subsequently earned a M.A. in Economics from New School University in New York.
Greg has been a patron of Island City Stage since its inception and remembers the productions at Empire Stage. In addition to Island City Stage, he and his husband, Michael, subscribe to New World Symphony, Seraphic Fire, Duncan Dance, and Florida Grand Opera. A former long-time member of the board of the Broward Art Guild, where he served as President, Vice-President and Treasurer, he is delighted to join the Island City Stage board.
David Ratcliffe
Board Director
David has a 35-year career in trust wealth management services with Suntrust Bank, Merrill Lynch Trust Company and U.S. Trust (Bank of America Private Bank), focusing on estate and philanthropic planning for private wealth clients. He retired from financial services in 2017 and currently works at the Community Foundation of Broward as the Philanthropic Services Executive responsible for fostering relationships with attorneys, accountants, financial managers and planners. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University and holds the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor and Chartered Philanthropic Advisor in Philanthropy professional designations.
Andy Rogow
Artistic Director
Andy Rogow is the founding Artistic Director of Island City Stage. Under his leadership ICS has garnered numerous awards and accolades including nine Carbonell Awards – two for Best Production of a Play. Aside from numerous ICS productions including the world premieres of “Daniel’s Husband” and “The Goldberg Variations”, he is best known for directing Steve Solomon’s “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy” and its two sequels which have toured non-stop around the country since 2004. In addition he has directed at Broward Stage Door and was the director of the original production and tour of “Waist Watchers the Musical”. He was previously the Artistic Director at the Hollywood Playhouse where directed Sally Struthers in “Always, Patsy Cline” and Avi Hoffman in “Fiddler on the Roof”.
Andy has a BFA from NYU and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He lives in Oakland Park with his husband Lloyd.
Lorenzo Robertson
Board Director
Lorenzo Robertson currently is the Emerging Interventions Manager with The Pride Center at Equality Park. He has worked in the HIV prevention and education field for the past 15 years in various capacities.
Lorenzo previously worked for the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County as the Minority AIDS Coordinator and the Statewide MSM Coordinator and as the Executive Director with People of Color AIDS Coalition. He has worked in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health creating various initiatives for HIV prevention for MSM and as the Public Relations Director for Francis House. Lorenzo has worked with Black AIDS Institute as a consultant around issues for Black people and HIV.
Lorenzo is also a published author and poet of Detached and Eclectic Essence respectively. Lorenzo currently lives in Coral Springs with his husband, Derald.
Anthony Roberts
Board Director
Anthony Roberts is the Human Resources Manager for Recruitment/Selection for the City of Fort Lauderdale. Before joining the City of Fort Lauderdale, Anthony held the position of Vice President of Talent Acquisition for Charter Schools USA, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale where he led the recruitment operations and strategy of the organization focusing on recruitment of Leadership, Instructional and Operational Support Staff for over 8,500 employees for more than 80 schools across 7 states.
Anthony earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management & Marketing from Morehead State University, with Graduate work in Human Resources Management, as well as Adult & Higher Education – Career Counseling
Anthony moved to Fort Lauderdale in 2010 from Lexington, KY, with his partner of 16 years, and now husband – Greg Whitaker. They enjoy kayaking, travel, music, theatre, great food and supporting cultural, civic and business organizations in South Florida.
Anthony has been involved in, and an avid supporter of theatre since his early teenage years, when his mother took him to see a local production of “Guys and Dolls” and he was awestruck!
Harvey Shapiro
Board Director
Harvey Shapiro is a former State of Ohio Election Official, Law Professor, Magistrate, Law Director, and Prosecuting Attorney. He graduated from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, with a B.A. degree, and American University Law School, Washington D.C.
Since retiring to Florida, with his husband Michael Dager, Harvey has been active in the Arts and LGBTQ communities, serving presently as Grants Chairman for FAB! FUNDING ARTS BROWARD, as well as on the Board of Directors of the GAY MENS CHORUS OF SOUTH FLORIDA, and the BEARS OF SOUTH FLORIDA.
Harvey believes that our intention to do good, must be matched with using our time and treasures to robustly support local Arts and Cultural organizations and LGBTQ organizations advocating Equal Rights and Opportunities for all in a diverse society.
Sue Wilder
Board Director
Sue is a retired financial services industry executive. Armed with a BA from City University of New York (CUNY), Sue enjoyed a career that focused on managed products, marketing, sales, and product development. Based on Wall Street in her native New York City, she travelled for her work throughout the United States.
Sue has been residing in South Florida for the past 15 years. Her frequent visits to NYC feed her enjoyment of theater, particularly off and off-off Broadway. In addition to theater, her favorite activities include movies, museums, book reviewing and rock and roll. Sue volunteers and serves on the Fort Lauderdale based board of Our Fund Foundation.
STAFF
ANDY ROGOW
Artistic Director
amrbroker@gmail.com
ANDY ROGOW (Artistic Director) most recently directed and was involved in the creation of Waist Watchers, the Musical at the Plaza Theatre which had its premiere in 2007 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre and then toured nationally as well as playing extended runs in Atlanta and St. Louis. He is the founding Artistic Director of the Island City Stage in Ft. Lauderdale where he directed their recent production of Pig Tale. Under his leadership Island City Stage garnered a 2012 Silver Palm Award for Best New Theatre as well as a Best of 2012 choice of SFGN newspaper. He is well known as the director of Steve Solomon’s My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy as well as its two sequels which have been touring the country continuously since 2004.
He earned his BFA from New York University and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During his tenure as Artistic Director of the Hollywood Playhouse in Hollywood, Florida he directed Sally Struthers and Dawn Wells in Always, Patsy Cline, the world premieres of The Comet’s Tale, Eye of the Beholder, Harry and Thelma in the Woods, and Beau Jest – The Musical as well as directing and/or producing critically acclaimed and award-winning productions of The Fantasticks, Man of La Mancha, A Grand Night for Singing, Ruthless, Nunsense Amen starring Greg Louganis and Fiddler on the Roof starring Avi Hoffman, for which he received a Carbonell Award nomination for Best Director. Mr. Rogow is originally from Chicago and is a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and is a past President of the Theatre League of South Florida. He currently serves as Chair of the Our Fund CEO Network Committee.
MICHAEL LEEDS
Associate Artistic Director
mleeds1492@aol.com
MICHAEL LEEDS (Associate Artistic Director): wrote and directed the B’way musical, Swinging On A Star that was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Musical. Off-B’way he directed and choreographed Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah – The Songs of Allan Sherman (starring Tovah Feldshu & Mary Testa), for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Director and Best Choreographer. Other Off-B’way credits include directing and choreographingLypsinka – A Day In The Life, Showing Off (starring (Donna Murphy), and Hot Klezmer for AJT.
Mr. Leeds has directed for Playwrights Horizons, the York Theatre and the Goodspeed Opera House among others. His adaptation and production of Arthur Miller’s Playing For Timewon a Festival First at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was where it was given its European premiere. He directed and choreographed A Little Night Music for the Houston Grand Opera starring Frederica Von Stade and Thomas Allen and 70, Girls, 70 for the York Theatre’s Musicals In Mufti series starring Jane Powell and Charlotte Rae. For film, he has choreographed End of Summer, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Peter Weller and co-wrote with Linda Yellen: The Simian Line, starring William Hurt, Lynn Redgrave, Tyne Daly and Harry Connick Jr., and The Last Film Festival (starring Dennis Hopper, Jacqueline Bisset, Leelee Sobieski & Chris Kattan).
Mr. Leeds rewrote and directed a new version of Cole Porter’s Red, Hot And Blue for the Goodspeed Opera and Paper Mill Playhouse. He also directed the Florida Grand Opera production of Marc Blitzstein’s Regina starring Lauren Flanigan. He directed the World Premiere of Henry Covery’s new play,The First Step at the New York International Fringe Festival.
For ten years Mr. Leeds co-directed, with Albert Stephenson, the Drama League’s annual benefit honoring Liza Minnelli, Kander & Ebb, Hal Prince, Rosie O’Donnell and Chita Rivera among others. As a songwriter, Mr. Leeds’ work has appeared Off-B’way in Martin Charnin’s Upstairs At O’Neals and the No Frills Revue, as well as on CBS’s The Comedy Zone. Mr. Leeds has also collaborated on Miracles, a musical he wrote with Joe Stein, with a score by Sheldon Harnick, Stephen Schwartz, David Shire and Marvin Hamlisch. He directed and choreographed Mating Habits of the Urban Mammal, a musical comedy he co-wrote with Peggy Gordon, Brian Lasser and Timothy Graphenreed for the Broward Stage Door Theatre in Coral Springs. Since coming to South Florida, he’s directed the inaugural season of Laffing Matterz at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the new Lisa Loeb musical, Camp Kappawanna for City Theatre, The First Stepand Last Call for Empire Stage, The Boys In The Band for Rising Action Theatre, A Little Night Music (Carbonell nom. Best Musical), The Glass Menagerie, Come Blow Your Horn, Mack & Mabel (Carbonell Award Best Musical), Steel Magnolias, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, My Fair Lady, Lend Me A Tenor, Beau Jest and The Light In The Piazza(Carbonell nom. Best Musical, Silver Palm Award for Direction) for the Broward Stage Door Theatre. As Associate Director of Island City Stage, The Twentieth Century Way(Carbonell nom. Best Ensemble), Body Awareness and the critically acclaimed The Timekeepers. For The Plaza Theatre, Driving Miss Daisy and Chapter Two.
Michael studied with renowned Acting Coach, Larry Moss for ten years.
MARTIN CHILDERS
Managing Director
md
Managing Director, Martin Childers, comes to Island City Stage from Pikeville, Kentucky, where he has worked for the last 15 years as the Executive Director of one of Kentucky’s longest running professional theatres, Jenny Wiley Theatre originating in Prestonsburg, KY. Childers led the organization through 15 years of growth, increasing programming from three months to year round, overseeing housing construction for 36 actors, technicians and musicians, commissioning new works like the Feud Series and Ghost Stories, and negotiating and securing a new indoor facility in the city of Pikeville hosting year-round programming. Childers brings almost 20 years of fundraising and marketing experience to Island City Stage. “I am proud of the work I did in Eastern Kentucky but look forward to advancing the work of Island City Stage in South Florida.” Childers can be reached at md@islandcitystage.org.
April 2019
Island City Stage Announces Season 8
Island City Stage is excited to announce the Season 8! The mission of the theater is to create quality theatrical productions that focus on the LGBTQ experience but have a heart and soul that is truly universal. This will be Island City Stage’s 8th season and begin beginning in November 2019 with:
Lipstick is a silly, sweet farce with a heart of gold and a drawer full of sex toys.
You’ll meet Anna, who is hurriedly preparing for a first date; Mal, her gay best friend whose potential suitors keep magically appearing at her door; and Cara, her ex, who is supposed to be getting married…to a man! And that’s just the beginning of the cavalcade of visitors crashing the evening and adding to the confusion.
Needless to say, chaos and hijinks ensue.
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Altar Boyz – Book by Kevin Del Aguila, Music and Lyrics by Gary Adler & Michael Patrick Walker
Get ready to sing the praises of this off-Broadway musical comedy sensation is about a fictitious Christian boy band that sets out to save the world one screaming fan at a time. Filled with angelic voices, sinfully spectacular dancing and plenty of pointed parody, Altar Boyz finds the five-member group finally hitting the big time with their latest concert. But the boys are worried that their pious pop act — filled with songs like “Girl You Make Me Wanna Wait” and “Jesus Called Me On My Cell Phone” — might not go over as well with sophisticated city folk.
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Suddenly Last Summer by Tennessee Williams
In this classic Tennessee Williams play, Mrs. Venable is determined to lobotomize her niece, Catharine, to keep her quiet about the mysterious circumstances of her son’s death. Scandal and greed lurk around every corner in the play Williams considered his most poetic. We all use each other and that’s what we think of as love. Hypocrisy, greed, sexual repression, a secret journal, and cannibalism —it’s all packed into this pot boiler.
Sponsored by Funding Arts Broward!
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The Mystery of Love and Sex by Bathsheba Doran
Deeply insightful and very funny, the play captures the aimless, yet sexually-focused swagger of twentysomethings, as well as the guarded, practiced veneer of their parents. We will find that all four are carrying secrets and resentments that affect the others. The answers they are led to eventually reveal that the path forward is not always the one right in front of you.
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Bright Colors And Bold Patterns by Drew Droege
It’s celebration time in this hilarious one-man comedy as Josh and Brennan are about to get married in Palm Springs on a lovely Saturday afternoon. However, the night before becomes a drunken, drug-fueled riot, because their friend Gerry has arrived, furious that their invitation says “Please refrain from wearing bright colors or bold patterns.”
Whichever way you see him- as either your ideal or your worst nightmare wedding guest — Jerry is overwhelming in real life, but also a raucous delight.
Our Front: A word from the Managing Director
DON’T FORGET YOUR FLEXPASS
Seriously! The 2018/19 Season Flexpasses will be available soon!
EDUCATION
D’Verse Theater Alliance, is a program by Island City Stage committed to introducing young people to the power and beauty of the theater arts. It is committed to empowering youth, to support the insight and resilience of youth and provide them with a safe space for creative expression to tell their own stories.
Island City Stage is working with the Oakland Park Public Library to develop a drama group designed specifically for youth and their allies. The program, dubbed D’Verse Youth Theatre, will serve teens (up to age 18) and will meet at the Ethel M. Gordon Library.
Rick Karlin – Director
Rick Karlin is the D’Verse Youth Theatre Director. Rick has a B.A. in Education and an M.A in Gifted Education and was a public-school teacher for 30+ years, but theater has always been his passion. His first musical, “Spin Cycle” ran for three sold-out months in Chicago and was the first gay-themed musical reviewed by the mainstream press in Chicago. He has written five original musicals and 22 children’s plays.
“When I was teaching, my favorite part of the day was working with the after-school drama club,” says Karlin. “Seeing how kids can blossom and discover talents they didn’t know they had is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever experienced. When I joined the board of Island City Stage, starting an educational outreach component was one of my top goals.”
In 2017, Karlin and designer (and Island City Stage board member) Peter Lovello volunteered their time and talent and ran a two-week drama camp at the Oakland Park Library. In two weeks, the students learned theater techniques and terminology, performed improv and rehearsed and performed an original short musical play, “Seuss on the Loose” written by Karlin.
That was followed by a three-month improv workshop in the Spring of 2018, also held at the Oakland Park Library.
EXTERNAL LINKS
AUDITIONS! – 2018-2019 SEASON
BOARD TO BE DETERMINED
