Faculty Q+A

Jocelyn Greene smiles with script

Jocelyn Greene Q+A

Jocelyn Greene founded Child’s Play NY in 2007 and is passionate about bringing theater programming to young people. Learn more about where she comes from and what she loves to do on weekends.

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Playwright Keurim Hur working on a computer

Keurim Hur and Mike Hunter Q+A

The students in our production classes get giddy with excitement when it is time for Charlotte Gaspard, our resident designer, to make her visitation to Child’s Play NY rehearsals. Charlotte’s vision and artistry has helped to take the shows we do with children to new heights. Kids love to wear the transformative pieces she gives, love acting in front of the backdrops she paints, and really value building their character with the support of her designs.

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Designer Charlotte Gaspard

Charlotte Gaspard Q+A

The students in our production classes get giddy with excitement when it is time for Charlotte Gaspard, our resident designer, to make her visitation to Child’s Play NY rehearsals. Charlotte’s vision and artistry has helped to take the shows we do with children to new heights. Kids love to wear the transformative pieces she gives, love acting in front of the backdrops she paints, and really value building their character with the support of her designs.

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Amanda Lea Mason Headshot

Amanda Mason Q+A

Amanda is a teaching artist with Child’s Play NY who loves magical thinking! Whether it be an Imagine That class with pre-k students or an Under the Sea class in which 1st graders write their own myths, she loves channelling the kids’ own magical thinking.

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Brandon Zelman Headshot

Brandon Zelman Q+A

Brandon Zelman is an actor and improviser born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has been with Child’s Play NY for a few years now and has happily answered a few questions for us about his training, comedy and more.

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Emily Tabachuk headshot

Emily Tabachuk Q+A

Emily Tabachuk is our spectacular Operations Manager – since joining the company in 2013, she has stage managed scores of shows and kept the communications between teachers, parents and schools flowing. I bow down to her knowledge of google spreadsheets, classic Greek theater, and blocking notations. I sat down to chat about her job at Child’s Play NY, what exactly stage management is, and learn all about her essential role in the company.

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Alla Ilyasova Headshot

Alla Ilyasova Q+A

Alla Ilyasova is a master teacher – especially of Child’s Play NY’s pre-k and K-2 classes and camps. She is a Russian-born theater artist with an impressive pedigree of training: her MFA from the Actors Studio in playwriting, and subsequent professional work has informed the way she helps our students to devise their own work. Alla’s own plays have been produced at the New York International Fringe Festival and her Russian translations of Chekov’s plays have been produced by Classic Stage Company. Alla has a decade of experience working as a preschool teacher and has been a teaching artist with Child’s Play NY since 2015. We were lucky enough to check in with her and learned about her favorite games, techniques and kid lit!

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Music Director Mike Hunter at Piano

Mike Hunter Q+A

Mike Hunter is a tour de force musician with Child’s Play NY. If your child does our Brooklyn classes, you’ve likely seen him accompanying productions on the piano or doing improv on the guitar with our Mini Musical classes. In addition to being an awesome teacher, Mike can be heard eight shows a week, playing violin in the pit of the Broadway musical, Tootsie. He made his Broadway debut in The Band’s Visit and plays his own music with his band Hunt for Hunter. Executive Director, Jocelyn Greene sat down with Mike to ask him some questions about his life as an artist, making music and teaching kids!

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