Program – La Egoista

SKYLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY is recognized as a “powerhouse of new play development” by Dramatist Magazine and as “a leader in play development” by the L.A. Times. In just the last five years, three plays originating at Skylight have been performed Off Broadway and on Broadway, The Wrong Man, Church & State (which had 65+ productions in 33 states), and Lavender Men (which received a staged reading at Circle in the Square). In 2015, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (a co- production with Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble) received the prestigious Steinberg/ATC New Play Citation. In 2019, Center Theatre Group remounted their multiple award-winning production of Rotterdam at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of Block Party. The production won the 2017 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Production, and awards for Writing and Lead Actress. It also received top honors at the 2018 Stage Raw Awards, winning Production of the Year and Leading Actress awards.

GARY GROSSMAN  (Producer, Producing Artistic Director, he/him) is the recipient of Stage Raw's 2016 Career Achievement Award and the inaugural Henry Ong Award for Leadership in the Los Angeles Theatre Community. His career began in New York, owning two theaters and a theatrical lighting company by the age of 23. Gary worked at the Public Theatre, Café La Mama, and Sheraton Square Playhouse before joining Los Angeles’ emerging theatre movement in the 70's. Producing over 300 stage plays and more than 65 world premieres, some of his celebrated productions are Rotterdam (3 LADCC Awards including Best Production and 2 Stage Raw Awards - performed at CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2019), World Premieres of Church & State (Off-Broadway 2017, over 50+ national productions), The Wrong Man (Off-Broadway 2019, 14 New York Award nominations, 3 Ovation Awards), Bronco Billy – The Musical (2 Ovation Awards), Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea (Steinberg/National Theatre Critics Citation with Lower Depth Ensemble), El Grande CIRCUS de Coca- Cola, Obama-ology, Pray To Ball (Ovation Award), Years to the Day, Hermetically Sealed, Bullrusher, Mad Women (LA Weekly Award), AIDS/ US Portraits In Courage, America Adjacent, The Madres, Hostage, Never Is Now, and the 2020 L.A. Times Critics Choice West Adams among others.

ARMANDO HUIPE (Executive Director, he/him) is the executive director of Skylight Theatre Company. Prior to working with Skylight, he served as producer for the national Latinx Theatre Commons, a flagship program of HowlRound Theatre Commons at Emerson College, where he led organizing efforts for the visibility and capitalization of Latinx theaters across the country. He has also worked with companies such as REDCAT, Center Theatre Group, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the LA Phil, Latino Theater Company, Yale Cabaret, and United States Artists. He earned an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama and a BA in English Literature from UCLA.

TYREE MARSHALL  (Associate Producer, Beyond Conversation Coordinator, she/her) is an Actor and Producer originally from New Jersey. Tyree had studied dance for 16 years when she discovered acting when she was in high school. She would then go on to study at California Institute of The Arts where she earned her BFA in Acting and a certificate from the British American Dramatic Academy in Oxford with Yale School of Drama. Tyree has since been pursuing in an acting career in Los Angeles with her latest theater credits including Love Is Another Country (Coin&Ghost), Gone (Inkwell), and #Becklandiscancelled (IAMA). As a producer, Tyree is currently an Artistic Associate of Play Development at Skylight Theatre Company. You can also catch her on episode 7 of "Bosch: Legacy on Freevee." 

CEDES SIFUENTES (Production Manager, she/her) is currently the production manager at Skylight Theatre Company. She graduated from California State University of Northridge with her Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts. Starting as an intern, she was brought onto staff and has worked on many productions as the assistant stage manager and box office coordinator. Some of her credits include Skylight’s productions of, A Hit Dog Will Holler, Apartment Living, Lavender Men, and currently La Egoista. She loves her theatre family and is very thankful to be a part of this company.

BENJAMIN RAWLS (Technical Director, he/him) is the NEW Technical Director at Skylight Theatre! An actor and creative himself, he is so excited to be able to help the immensely talented performers, designers, and staff here at Skylight realize they’re technical vision for the work they care so much about. He is also the Head Sound Engineer and Dark Night Producer for Loft Ensemble Theatre Co in North Hollywood. Enjoy the show!

STEPHEN GIFFORD  (Scenic Design, he/him) has designed more than 200 productions during his time as a Los Angeles resident.  His design work has been featured at numerous theaters nationally and internationally including: The Grand Ole Opry, The Chicago Theatre, Madison Square Garden, The El Sett & Abdel Halim Theaters (Riyadh), Sacramento Music Circus, The Walnut Street Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, Juneau Lyric Opera, La Mirada Performing Arts Center/McCoy Rigby, 3D Theatricals, and many more.  He has garnered many awards and nominations for his work and was awarded The Bob Z Award for career achievement in set design by the LADCC.  More at: stephengifforddesign.com 

KARYN LAWRENCE  (Lighting Design, she/her) is an award-winning theatrical and event lighting designer based in Los Angeles. She is delighted to be making her Skylight Theatre Debut! Selected theater credits include South Coast Repertory, La Mirada Theatre, Center Theater Group, East West Players, Boston Court Pasadena, The Pasadena Playhouse, Ebony Repertory Theatre, Rogue Artists Ensemble, International City Theatre, and Arizona Broadway Theatre. She is the resident lighting designer for The New Swan Shakespeare Festival in Orange County. In addition to theater, she is Radiance Lightworks' lead lighting designer for Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights each year. She currently teaches lighting design at California State University Los Angeles. www.kdlightingdesign.com

MYLETTE NORA  (Costume Design, she/her) is an Ovation Award and NAACP Theatre Award recipient for best costumes, listed in the honors edition of The Cambridge Registry of Who’s Who Among Executive and Professional Women, works world wide consists of television, film, video and stage, and was seen nightly on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and now You Bet Your Life with Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks, and weekly on Jay Leno's Garage. The famed artist Synthia St. James noted Mylette as being the inspiration for her world renowned painting  Ensemble which graced the cover of the best selling novel Waiting To Exhale by Terry McMillan. Mylette's designer lines are, doggie wear, FromTheHeartDoggieWear.com, heirloom dolls, My Mind's Eye, and now face mask by, Mylette!

CRISTIAN AMIGO  (Sound Design, he/him) is a Latinx composer, sound artist/designer, producer, and educator. His awards include a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (music composition), a Senior Fulbright Scholar/Artist Fellowship (Bolivia), and the Van Lier Fellowship from Meet the Composer. He earned a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (Oxford Press) contains an entry on his work. Amigo is a sound faculty member in the Experience Design and Production Program at the CalArts School of Theater and is currently an artist-in-residence at INTAR Latino Theater in New York City. His geo-mapped music piece Lives of the New Kind of Saints…will be a featured American design at the 2023 Prague Quadrennial.

MICHAEL O'HARA  (Properties Design, he/him) is excited to return to the Skylight as Props Designer. He is a freelance Props Designer. In addition to Skylight, his work has appeared on stage at Celebration Theatre, Circle X, East West Players, the Blank, Theatre of NOTE, Coeurage Theatre, The Road Theatre, the Garry Marshall, IAMA Theatre, Sacred Fools, and Artists at Play to name a few. He was also the original Props Designer for four shows at CTG’s Block Party (Failure: A Love Story - 2017; Die, Mommie, Die - 2018; Rotterdam - 2019; Canyon - 2020).

JEN PALUMBO  (Stage Manager, she/her) is thrilled to be joining  Skylight Theater for the West Coast premiere of La Egoista! Jennifer is an LA based Stage Manager, and is  fortunate to work with many fine theater companies in the Los Angeles area, including Open Fist Theatre Company, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, The Getty Villa and many others around town. Most recently, Jennifer was honored to run the world premiere of Justin Tanner's Little Theatre, with Rogue Machine at the Matrix Theatre. Highlights include, and taking the OTC production of A Steady Rain to Atlanta, Georgia at The Alliance Theatre, and taking Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop to Memphis, Tennessee with Hattiloo Theatre for MLK 50.

STEFANIE MAZARIEGOS (Assistant Stage Manager, she/her) received her Bachelor Degree at UC Irvine, Claire Trevor school of The Arts. She’s stage managed LatinX readings, short play festivals and student production plays.

MELISSA DUPREY (Stand Up Consultant, she/her)is an actor, comic, producer, musician, and playwright with roots from Humboldt Park, Chicago. She is a critically-acclaimed solo artist whose work spans over a decade with 5 full-length solo plays (SEXomedy, SUSHI-frito, Good Grief, SEXomedy 2.0, RISE OF THUNDERDOME) highlighting the intersections of diasporic Blackness, queerness, healing, liberation, and sexuality. DuPrey’s full-length play BRUJAJA, directed by Miranda Gonzalez, was digitized as a theatrical film by UrbanTheater Company in 2021 for its world premier. DuPrey's stand-up has been featured in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. She has been a regular guest on WGN's talk radio show, Pretty Late, hosted by veteran comedian Patti Vasquez, a regular panelist on Feminist Wednesdays WBEZ's "Vocalo" show, and panelist for WGN's Windy City Live (Chicago). She was most recently seen as “Dr. Sara Ortiz” on Greys Anatomy (S17 & S18) and will recur in a new HULU series How to Die Alone ("Tamika"). She's also been seen on Empire (FOX), The Resident (FOX), Chicago PD (NBC), and The Chi (Showtime). Her theater credits include works at Teatro Vista, Court Theater, The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf, Free Street Theater, UrbantTheater Company, Victory Gardens, The Greenhouse Theater, Oracle Theater, and Teatro Luna. She hopes to continue creating and producing projects that fuse theatrical story-telling with comedy for theater, television, and film.

CHRISTINE PAPALEXIS (Puppet Design, she/her) is a puppeteer/puppet builder who loves working with hand puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, animatronics - small furry critters to huge scary monsters. Credits include: Ratched, Kidding, Dave Made a Maze,Team America: World Police, Alien Resurrection, The Muppets (2015). She created/directed a short marionette film: “Amaterasu”.

RAUL CLAYTON STAGGS  (Casting Director, he/ him) is a freelance casting director thrilled to be working with The Skylight team again.  Previous Skylight credits include LAVENDER MEN and APARTMENT LIVING  (both co-productions with Playwrights’ Arena,) WEST ADAMS, and ROTTERDAM.  Raul has worked with many local theatre companies including Playwrights’ Arena, Boston Court Pasadena, LATC, Los Angeles LGBT Center, Moving Arts, Circle X, and Lower Depths Theatre Ensemble to name a few.  Raul is a 2018 Recipient of Playwrights’ Arena’s Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community.