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Our Team of Creative MiNDS

Michel Hausmann

Michel Hausmann

Artistic Director, Co-Founder

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Michel Hausmann is a Venezuelan-born theater director, producer, and writer. He is the recipient of the Drama League Award for conceiving and directing Seven Deadly Sins, “the biggest live professional theater production in the country” during the pandemic (The New York Times). He is the founder and Artistic Director of Miami New Drama, the largest bilingual theater company in the country and resident and operator of the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach. Under his artistic leadership, Miami New Drama has produced world premiere plays that are as diverse, multicultural, and multilingual as Miami’s extraordinary community, including: A Wonderful World, Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy, ¡Viva La Parranda!, The Cubans, Fake, When Monica Met Hillary, Gente Ociosa, Queen Of Basel, Papá Cuatro, The Cuban Vote, 7 Deadly Sins, and the first multilingual production of Our Town. Other productions include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (in co-production with Asolo Rep), The Album (in co-production with Tectonic Theater Project), A Special Day (in co-production with The Play Company), Terror (Directed by Gregory Mosher), One Night in Miami…(Directed by Carl Cofield), The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Directed by David Greenspan), among others.

Michel is the book writer and director of The Golem Of Havana, a critically acclaimed original musical that has been produced across the country, including a sold-out, extended run at the Colony Theatre. Hausmann’s Off-Broadway credits include the New York Premiere of Vassily Sigarev’s Black Milk and the New York premiere of The Color Of Desire by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nilo Cruz.

He was the co-founder and Artistic Director of an award-winning theater company in Venezuela, where he directed over a dozen productions. Michel received a BA from Emerson College and an MFA in Theater Directing from Columbia University. He is a New York Theater Workshop 2050 Fellow, an IRNE nominee, a Silver Palm Award winner, a Richard Rodgers Award finalist, and a two-time Knights Arts Challenge Award recipient.

Nicholas Richberg

Managing Director

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Nicholas Richberg (Managing Director) is a Cuban-American award-winning producer, actor, and nonprofit executive who has received critical acclaim for his broad range of work. Under his executive leadership Miami New Drama has produced 7 Deadly Sins, A Wonderful World, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Cubans, When Monica Met Hillary, The Cuban Vote, Elián, Anna in the Tropics, Defacing Michel Jackson, Create Dangerously, and Papá Cuatro. He previously served as Managing Director of Zoetic Stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where he produced numerous world premiere and award-winning plays and musicals. As an actor and director, Richberg has appeared on national television, radio, and in theaters and concert venues across the country, originating numerous roles including in Confessions of a Cocaine Cowboy at Miami New Drama prior to his tenure as Managing Director. He is a Drama League Award winner, Carbonell Award winner, multiple Silver Palm Award winner, twice named Best Actor by Miami New Times, and was named a Miami Leader by the Miami Foundation. A Miami native, Richberg is a graduate of Miami Country Day School and University of Miami Frost School of Music. He also holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University and an MBA from IE University (Madrid) and Brown University, for which he received a distinguished leadership scholarship.

Moisés Kaufman

Moisés Kaufman

Co-Founder

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Moisés Kaufman was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama in September 2016. He is also a Tony and Emmy nominated director and playwright. Prior Broadway credits: The Heiress with Jessica Chastain, 33 Variations (which he also wrote) with Jane Fonda (5 Tony nominations); Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer Prize finalist Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams; the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife. His plays Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project are among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. Kaufman also co-wrote and directed the film adaptation of The Laramie Project for HBO, which received two Emmy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writer. He is currently directing and writing a new Broadway-bound adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen with Grammy-winning composer Arturo O’Farrill. He’s the artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project, co-founder and Artistic Associate of Miami New Drama, and a Guggenheim Playwriting Fellow.

Jessica Kaschube

General Manager

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Jessica Kaschube a multi-faceted theater manager with a passion for regional theatre. Her previous experience includes: Company Manager of Mad Cow Theatre (2017-2018), General Manager for GableStage (2013-2017), and various technical and managerial capacities for Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Montana Repertory Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse and Alpine Theatre Project (2005-2013). She is a graduate of The University of Montana with a BFA in Technical Theatre and Design.

jessica@miaminewdrama.org

Claudia Urdaneta

Claudia Urdaneta

Director of Programming

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Claudia Urdaneta is from Venezuela with B.A. in Political Sciences from Universidad Central de Venezuela, Master of Arts in Performing Arts Administration from NYU. Formerly the President of the Centro Cultural Chacao, Caracas (2014-2017), Executive Director of Caracas International Theater Festival (2001-2013), Executive Producer of Miami World Theater Festival (2005), Executive Director of Danzahoy Dance Company (1988-2001), in charge of all the productions for the Teatro Teresa Carreño and its numerous international tours. A member of La Red (Network of Cultural Promoters of Latin America and the Caribbean), President of La Red for two terms, and a member of the Advisory Board in three terms. Co-founder and President of the Caribbean Network of Art Presenters – CARIBNET) (1997- 2001). She is a recipient of the Venezuelan National Artists Award for Best Contemporary Dance Producer.

claudia@miaminewdrama.org

Vyana Preti

Vyana Preti

Director of Education

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Vyana Preti s a Venezuelan-born educator, theater director, writer, and community organizer leader holding a B.A in Philosophy from Universidad Central de Venezuela. She was part of the Direction Department with Palo de Agua, an award-winning theater company founded by Michel Hausmann. Her interest in theater, community and social change has led her to be the General  Manager in the re-opening of the “Teatro de Petare César Rengifo”  and she founded a Theater School for kids and teenagers  in Petare (Caracas), one of the largest and most dangerous favelas in Latin America where she was the academic director for nine years. She is the writer and artistic director of several children’s plays, among them the trilogy of “Ratón y Vampiro” based on the tales of Yolanda Pantin. She co-founded and co-owned Lugar Común Bookstores, 6 cultural spaces dedicated to cultural activities in Venezuela. She was selected for the International Visitor Leadership Program Promoting Social Change Through the Arts of the U.S. Department of State and is currently part of the Theatre Communications Group “Rising of Leaders of Color Round 4”. She is thrilled to be further developing the Miami New Drama Educational Program.

vyana@miaminewdrama.org

Steven Nuñez

Steven Nuñez

Technical Director

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Steven Nuñez joined Miami New Drama in 2016, and has worked in a variety of capacities on many of their past productions, including A Special Day, Terror, Our Town, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Queen of Basel, The Album, and One Night in Miami. He graduated with a BFA from New World School of the Arts, and has been active in the Miami arts community for some time, where he has worked on a variety of collaborative pieces with a wide range of artists.

steven@miaminewdrama.org

Gaby Tortoledo

Gaby Tortoledo

Media & Communications Manager

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Gaby Tortoledo is a Venezuelan actor, singer, educator, and multi-disciplinary artist specialized in visual media and communications. With over 15 years of experience in the areas of marketing, PR, graphic design, social media, and visual communication Gaby has worked with multi-national corporations, a multi-national publishing house, multiple theatre organizations in Florida and the UK, and high-profile individual talent. She holds a graduate degree in Visual Communication from the University of the Arts London, a Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from Nova Southeastern University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from Florida Atlantic

gaby@miaminewdrama.org

Natalia Dubon

Natalia Dubon

Education Coordinator & House Manager

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Proudly born and raised in El Salvador, Natalia (she/her/ella) is a multi-hyphenate creator and 2022 graduate of the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts, focusing on Stage Management and Theater Management. After moving to South Florida at the age of ten, she found her love for the arts and pursued her Certificate of Arts in Medicine: Applied Theatre for Health. All this guided her to start as an intern with MiND’s Department of Education in 2021. She has previously worked as a PSM on A Little Night Music and a dramaturg on Marisol (UF), as well as independently produced her own projects both in film and theater.

natalia@miaminewdrama.org

Jessica Farr

Jessica Farr

Company Manager

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Jessica Farr is a writer, director, and actor from Miami. She is an alumnus of New World School of the Arts, Fordham University, and Moscow Art Theatre (MXAT). She has developed original programming for film, television, stage, and radio, including Comedy Central’s South Beach Comedy Festival. She is a recent MIA Artist grantee, participant of the Miami Film Lab Development Series, the Playwriting Development Program, and recipient of a TCG Artist Grant. Jessica has worked for numerous theaters in various roles, including City Theatre, Theatre Lab, Juggerknot Theatre Company, GableStage, Palm Beach Dramaworks, Actors’ Playhouse, Miami Theater Center, and Mad Cat Theatre Company, where she served as Associate Artistic Director. Her film A FLORIDA STORY has won accolades in several festivals including Indie Short Fest LA, IndieX-LA, and the Independent Shorts Awards. Jessica is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast WORST PLACE ON EARTH, an original storytelling series based on Florida headlines. www.jessicafarr.com