A LETTER FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTORS

“Connection in an isolating age.” How strangely prophetic these words written by Jonathan Larsen, in 1993, seem to be now in 2020. We find ourselves in an unprecedented time not only for IAMA and the Los Angeles theater community, but for the global community at large. This is a time where we must take a deeper look at the meaning of “essential.” Equality is essential. Justice is essential. Empathy is essential. And yes, theatre is essential. The ability to provide a place for celebration, questioning, reckoning, dismantling, this is the “essential” service that theatre and art provide to a community and to humanity. IAMA takes this responsibility very seriously and in this moment we promise to keep the “doors” to our theatre open. We are so proud to be able to continue to share our mission of developing new work with our now global community. As we embark on our 13th season, IAMA will be virtually celebrating new voices and works in progress. We are all “works in progress” in this moment, as we face uncertainty about our future in all aspects of life. At IAMA, we look towards the future with a strong sense of elevating voices that need to be heard to promote change in our world. By supporting a season of Virtual Solo Performance workshop productions, we are proclaiming that the road to change and transformation deserves a spotlight. Let’s illuminate this path together by supporting “essential” and diverse voices like Tom Detrinis, Anna LaMadrid, Sheila Carrasco, and Brandon Kyle Goodman as they break down the walls of isolation and encourage connection and community.

Stefanie Black and Katie Lowes 
IAMA Co-Artistic Directors

DIRECTOR’s NOTE

Friends! Hello! Welcome to the show! For the last 5 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with the insanely gifted Tom DeTrinis. His range as an actor, director, producer, and writer is unparalleled – no one I know does all of these things so well. And he’s always in a good mood. Well actually, another thing that Tom does brilliantly is hide his anger. Good Christian boys on Long Island, working actors in Hollywood, and gay men in all aspects of their lives are taught to be nice so that people will like them. Tonight, I am so excited to welcome you to Tom’s rage. I promise you his truth is no less as hilarious and engaging as he always is. He wants you to be his friend, but more importantly, he wants you to see him. Enjoy!

Drew Droege 
Director

IAMA Theatre Company Presents

MAKING FRIENDS

Written and performed by Tom DeTrinis

Directed by Drew Droege

Melissa Stephens*

Donna Simone Johnson 

Estey DeMerchant

Donny Jackson

Kathryn Burns

Helton Najera

Tanny Jiraprapasuke

Jonathan Sadoff

Mika Gonda 

Natasha Mynhier

Jeff Hammerton

Claire Glassford

Tyler Lahanas

Jeremy Nichols

Lucy Pollak Public Relations

Kathryn Musilek, Shark Party Media

CAST

Tom DeTrinis*

* Indicates of IAMA Theatre Company

CAST

Tom DeTrinis* Originally from Long Island, Tom came to Los Angeles by way of Buffalo - where he received his BFA in Music Theatre from University at Buffalo. He has been performing on the stage since he was 8 and has been involved in many productions as producer, director and actor, including Found, the Musical, Die, Mommie, Die!, The SantaLand Diaries, 30 Minute Musicals. On screen he can be seen in many titles including 90210, Community, Finding the Asshole Series (Slamdance 2019), and many more. He directed Tom Lenk in Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist (LA, NYC, San Fran, Scotland, London); Ravenswood Manor by Justin Sayre (LA), Happy Birthday Doug by Drew Droege (LA, NYC) and The Midnight Movie Collective with Justin Sayre (online).

CREATIVE TEAM

Drew Droege (Director) has directed and taught at The Groundlings since 2006. He’s also directed plays, sketch and solo shows at Upright Citizens Brigade, Comedy Central Stage, and Casita del Campo. He’s written and performed several solo shows Off-Broadway, including his most recent, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG, directed by Tom DeTrinis. 

Melissa Stephens* (Co-Producer) is a comedian, writer, and director from the Peach State. Melissa is a founding member of IAMA Theatre Company, has been a member of Groundlings’ Sunday Company, and regularly performs stand-up around Los Angeles. She has written, and will be performing her one-hour special, “Some Assembly Required”, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2020. Her directorial debut, Peen, was a Vimeo Staff Pick, and the short series she has written and directed, Finding The Asshole, was chosen to show at Slamdance and is currently in development with Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) producing. Melissa is a writer for the AMC series For Life, which comes out in 2020 and is excited to direct her first feature this year, along with all of her other irons in the fire. 

Donna Simone Johnson (Co-Producer) is an award-winning Actor, Choreographer and Producer who has worked in the LA Theatre community for over 20 years. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Watts Village Theatre Company, serves on the Ovation Rules Committee, on the IDEA committee for LA Stage Alliance, on CTG's EDI Advisory Board, and is on the Artistic Board of Los Angeles Poverty Department. As an actor, she has worked on 4 continents, 14 countries and too many cities to name (most recently Ashland, OR as a member of Oregon Shakespeare Co) and is a series regular on “Yall Family”.She holds a MA in Dance Education from NYU and an MFA in Acting from CalArts. Currently, Donna is working with nonprofit HowlRound to craft curriculum towards a revised theater canon with attention to BIPOC and LGBTQ+ stories that seek to revitalize and redefine what constitutes American storytelling in (what she hopes is) a brave new world. 

Donny Jackson (Lighting Designer) Career highlights include the West Coast premiere of In the Heights (Casa 0101 Theatre), the NY premiere of Four Clowns (La MaMa), God Looked Away, starring Al Pacino and Judith Light (Macha Theatre), A Singular They (Blank Theatre)-Stage Raw nomination, Transition (Lounge Theatre)-NAACP Award for Best Lighting, and Arrival & Departure (Fountain Theatre)-Broadway World Award for Best Lighting. Other productions include Into the Woods, as featured during ABC’s reality TV event, “Encore!”, and the KJAZZ Fall Benefit Concert (Wallis Annenberg). He is also a recurring Guest Artist at the Long Beach Playhouse where he has designed such classics as Fences, Death of a Salesman, A Raisin in the Sun, Cabaret and Hair. He is Head of Technical Theatre & Design at Cypress College and holds an MFA in Lighting from UCLA.

Kathryn Burns (Choreographer) aka Kat Burns, is a two-time Emmy winning choreographer for her work on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She has choreographed over 150 episodes of TV including Key & Peele, Why Women Kill, The Morning Show, Drunk History, James Corden, Bill Nye Saves The World, Two Broke Girls, The Other Two, Better Things, Teachers, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Children’s Hospital, Another Period, Garfunkel & Oates, Stuck In The Middle, and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp to name a few.

Estey DeMerchant (Production Stage Manager) Estey has been a stage manager in the Greater Los Angeles area for the past six years. She is thrilled to be a part of this incredible art during these trying times. Stay safe out there everyone! Select Credits include: The Producers (PSM, Celebration Theatre), Happy Birthday Doug (PSM, LA Run) Cabaret (PSM, Celebration Theatre), Tilda Swinton Answers an Ad on Craigslist (PSM, LA Run), Hansel & Gretel: A Wickedly Delicious Musical Treat - National Tour (PSM, Valley Performing Arts Center), Bright Colors, Bold Patterns (SM, LA Run), 24th and 23rd Annual Young Playwright’s Festival (PSM, Blank Theatre), Simply Shakespeare 2016/2015/2014 (ASM, Shakespeare Center LA), Shelter (PSM, Center for New Performance), 2014 Ovation Awards (PSM, LA Stage Alliance), How Grinchy Met the Who (PSM, Berocratic Productions), Rocky Horror Show (PSM, 4 Cornered Productions)

37Laines 37 Laines is a female-led production house committed to thought-provoking projects across film, television, and digital platforms. Based out of Santa Monica, 37 Laines produces high quality creative work for clients across the US and UK, including commercials, short films, music videos, digital content, web series, live events, documentaries and branded content. 37 Laines'​ team has the experience and equipment necessary to work from pre-production to post-production, bringing their diverse artistic background to create unique and memorable content. The team was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with IAMA on this very special project. For more information, please check out www.37laines.com. 

Jonathan Sadoff (Composer) is a composer, songwriter, arranger and record producer who graduated from USC's Thornton School of Music. T-Bone Burnett brought him on to co-score the hit film The Peanut Butter Falcon before he co-wrote all the original songs for Paramount’s forthcoming animated musical feature Under the Boardwalk with Sean Douglas (Sean is a Grammy-nominated songwriter who’s written singles for Selena Gomez, Sia, David Guetta and Madonna). Jonathan's composer credits include Ingrid Goes West, Dollface, The Meddler, The Mick, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World and Beautiful Creatures, amongst others.

Helton Najera (Technical Director) has been with The Pico since February, 2018. Since then he has overseen the lights and tech of all of the Creating Art Shows, I am Sophie, Under the Jello Mold and Three Black Girls. He has designed the lights for the following shows: Time Alone, Improv for the People, Coolbeans, Agatha Christie Unscripted and Peter Faber’s production of Hope and Gravity as well as many dance and camp shows. 

Closed Captioning provided by 37Laines

IAMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Katie Lowes, Chair 
Tyler Ennis, President 
David Yanni, Secretary 
Victoria Lerner, Treasurer 

Jana Bezdek 
Gracye Cheng
Tyler Ennis 
Mike Jackson 
Victoria Lerner 
Katie Lowes 
Melissa Romain
Graham Sibley 
David Yanni

IAMA STAFF

Co-Artistic Director: Stefanie Black 
Co-Artistic Director: Katie Lowes 
Managing Director: Lara Myrene 
Producing Director: Cymbre Sklar 
Associate Artistic Director: Margaux Susi 
Associate Artistic Director: Rodney To
Director of the Ensemble: Tom DeTrinis
Basecamp Director: Christian Durso
Director of Social Programming: Anna LaMadrid
Social Media Manager and Marketing Associate: Justin Sullivan

IAMA ENSEMBLE 

Anisha Adusumilli, Alexander Alchech, Tom Amandes, Laila Ayad, Deanna Barillari, Stefanie Black, Michelle Bossy, RS Buck, Jon Caren, Sheila Carrasco, Dean Cechvala, Parvesh Cheena, Deb S. Craig, Desi Dennis-Dylan, Tom DeTrinis, Christian Durso, James Eckhouse, Josh Epstein, Ryan Garcia, Chris Gardner, Jeff Gardner, Eli Gonda, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Heine, Laura Holloway, Anna Rose Hopkins, Tina Huang, Bailey Humiston, Alexis Jacknow, Andria Kozica, Colleen Labella, Anna LaMadrid, John Lavelle, Sharon Lawrence, Katie Lowes, Laura Mann, Burl Moseley, Karla Mosley, Louise Munson, Lara Myrene, Melissa Jane Osborne, Brian Otano, Tim Peper, Geoff Rivas, Tim Rock, Devere Rogers, Kacie Rogers, Amy Rosoff, Emily Rowan, Adriana Santos, Mark Saul, Courtney Sauls, Micah Schraft, Brandon Scott, Sonal Shah, Adam Shapiro, Graham Sibley, Cymbre Sklar, Lexi Sloan, Melissa Stephens, Margaux Susi, Rodney To, Sarah Utterback, Keliher Walsh, Jamie Wollrab, Christine Woods

IAMA THEATRE COMPANY IS A LOS ANGELES-BASED ENSEMBLE OF ARTISTS COMMITTED TO INVIGORATING LIVE PERFORMANCE FOR A STREAMING GENERATION. THROUGH CUTTING-EDGE, COOL AND HYPER-MODERN STORIES, IAMA IS INVESTED IN THE IMMEDIACY OF PRODUCTION AND STRIVES TO BRING AUDIENCES OUT OF THEIR PERSONAL SPACE AND INTO A SHARED EXPERIENCE.

Designated by Playbill as “one of 20 regional houses every theater lover must know,” IAMA is a Los Angeles-based ensemble of artists committed to invigorating live performance for a streaming generation. Through cutting-edge, cool and hyper-modern stories, IAMA is invested in the immediacy of production and strives to bring audiences out of their personal space and into a shared experience. The Ovation award-winning company has seen many plays generated at IAMA travel to off-Broadway, Second Stage and the Roundabout Underground, then go on to be performed regionally and internationally. Recent productions include West Coast premieres of A Kid Like Jake by Daniel Pearle and Found, a new musical based on the Found books and magazines by Davy Rothbart, featuring a book by Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree and music and original lyrics by Eli Bolin. IAMA members have been featured in numerous critically acclaimed TV shows and films as well as in a vast array of theater and live performances all over the country, including off-Broadway and Broadway. IAMA has been dedicated to developing plays and musicals by new, emerging and established playwrights since 2007.

THANK YOU TO OUR IAMA DONORS

Adam Howard

Alexandra Grossi

Andria Kozica

Anne Woodward

Barrett Foa

Belinda Glijansky

Bennett Sloan

Candace Trinchieri 

Cathleen Sibley 

Cathryn Wilson

Chandler Grinnell

Chris Farah

Courtney Ritchie

Daniel Franzese

Daniel Pudi 

Diane and Jim Davis 

Emily Foster

Eva Bilick

Evelyn Iocolano

Fielding Edlow 

Gary Gilbert 

George Peper 

Harley J Neuman & Daniel C. Lam 

James and Karen Durso 

Jeff Bratton

John Paul Karliak

Jonathan Deering

Julie Feldman

June Raphael

Kelsey Flynn

IAMA THANKS OUR 2020-2021 SPONSORS: 

Shonda Rhimes & the Rhimes Family Foundation

DAVID LEE FOUNDATION

NONPROFITS INSURANCE ALLIANCE GILBERT GRANT

CAPLIN FOUNDATION

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO

Mika Gonda

Helton Najera

The Pico

Danny Feldman 

Pasadena Playhouse 

Evan Cabnet 

Julia Lloyd-George 

LATC 

Jeff Lorch

Byron Lane

Justin Elizabeth Sayre

Erin La Rosa

Blake Silver

Tye Blue

Cyd LeVin

Bonnie McKee

Allison Dillard 

Chinda Ploysophone