Michael LeLand – Executive Director and Co-Founder of Theatre Double – Mr. LeLand has worked as an actor, singer, writer, theater educator, producer, chorographer and director in New York City and in his hometown of Philadelphiafor over twenty years. Mr. LeLand’s work as a director/chorographer and writer has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Village Voice, The Off-Off Broadway Review, Philadelphia City Papaer and The Philadelphia Inquirer among others.

In 1998 he was named to Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. He directed Pulitzer prize and Tony Winner and Academy Award nominee Jason Miller in Barrymore's Ghost in 2000. He is the co-authour of Theatre Double's Just The Boys  published by Simon and Shuster in Action; Anthology of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx9-UTPC7_M

http://youtu.be/kemcXaY7KmA

Peter Patrikios (Artistic Director Theatre Double Film)Mr. Patrikios is a professional actor credits include: Mercy-NBC-TV,Hack- CBS-TV, Law and Order: Criminal Intent- NBC-TV, Sex and the City- HBO,Films include: Mayor Cupcake featuring Leah Thompson and  Judd Nelson,Snakes Eyes –Brian DePalma and My Super Ex-Girlfriend with Uma Thurman.Recently he shot scenes for the upcoming release Future Weather featuring Amy Madagin and Lili Palmer.

 He is a founding member and resident company member of Theatre Double . Mr Patrikios has developed and appeared in some of the company’s most important productions, including Theatre Double’s Just the Boys, Theatre Double’s Jason and Medea, Short Changed Review and 1984, among others.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0665952/

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/175094720/call-me-mr-k?ref=search

Miguel Algarin-Artistic Advisior- Mr. Algarin is founder and Executive Director of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was awarded a special OBIE Award for producing and helped develop world premiere works by such important playwrights as Miquel Pinero, Ishmael Reed, ntozake shange, Amiri Baraka and Tony Award winner Sarah Jones. He has edited many important book including Aloud: Poetry Anthology of the Nuyorican Poets Café which won the American Book Award. Mr. Algarin was a professor of Shakespeare at Rutgers University for over 30 years and currently is a guest professor of Literature at Columbia University

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Michele Forte , Ph D. – Education Director Dr. Forte is a graduate of The Performing Arts School of the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts and co-founder of Theatre Double. She has studied and taught English internationally and recently was awarded a Doctorate in education from Arcadia University .  She is a licensed social worker and has contributed extensively to Philadelphia area social service programs. She has appeared on stage for Theatre Double in several productions including Theatre Double’s The Hawk and Encounters.

MISSION STATEMENT

The living experience of the performing arts and the communal audience pulse

has a transformative power on individuals, communities and nations.

Artists, as members of their society, have a responsibility to assist

in the process of building a world that values and embraces this power.

In that effort, our resident company of

actors, directors, musicians, visual artistsand writers,based in Philadelphia and New York City  will:

Create original theatrical works…

Infuse each generation with the joy of live performance…

Assist in the creation of other new artistic performances…

Provide a venue for neglected classics…

While nurturing youth, stimulating thought

and celebrating the truth and diversity of every human journey.

COMPANY HISTORY

In 1987, Michael LeLand and Michele Forte collaborated on a production of Keystone's The Hawk at Temple Center City Stage Three (later Theatre Double’s Main Stage).  The success of that production launched Theatre Double as an itinerant fringe theatre. 

In 1994, the company produced its first full season and the mission expanded to emphasize the development of new work. Theatre Double has also produced fifteen world premieres by such playwrights as J. Rufus Caleb, Ed Shockley, Juanita Amonitti, Roseanna Yamagiwa Alfaro, Yvonne Delet and Elizabeth Emmons.

In addition to new works, Theatre Double has produced plays from the modern canon, by such dramatists as Pulitzer Prize winner, Jason Miller, ntozake shange, Samuel Beckett, Murray Mednick and Tony Barsha, Leonard Melfi, Harold Pinter, Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Sarah Schulman and Bertolt Brecht.

In October 1995, Theatre Double made its New York City debut and has continued to have a strong presence there, working in such important venues as The Nuyorican Poets Café, HERE Center For Contemporary Art, and The West Bank Downstairs Theatre on Theatre Row (Laurie Beechman Theatre).  In 2001, Theatre Double’s Just the Boys (Simon and Schuster), was chosen for presentation at Performance Space NBC in New York City .

The NBC Television Network curates PSNBC in an effort to discover the first wave of talent for the next century.

From 1998-2001, Theatre Double operated a Performing Arts Center on Rittenhouse Row in Center City Philadelphia. The Philadelphia City Paper hailed Theatre Double’s Main Stage as Best New Idea in 1998.  The center housed a199-seat Proscenium Theatre and a 125-seat Studio Theatre. The 1619 Walnut Street Performing Arts Center featured Theatre Double's Main Stage season, Children's Theatre Repertory, rentals and co-productions by some of the best regional theatres, music, spoken word dance performances, and new play development.

Past productions such as Jason and Medea, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, and Barrymoore’s Ghost have earned acclaim from critics in both Philadelphia and New York City .  D.J.R. Bruckner of the New York Times wrote, “You think this company can do almost anything well.” 

In 1999, having demonstrated a high standard of excellence in its Mainstage productions, Theatre Double became equally dedicated to serving the community through educational programming. Its efforts included original Children’s Theatre productions and arts education programs. Among these programs is, The Language Enrichment Arts Program (LEAP) which helps improve young peoples standard American English usage through participation and exposure to the visual and performing arts and the College Access Arts Program (CAAP), which supports and encourages at risk youths to pursue a college education.

THEATRE DOUBLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Aronte Bennett
Rev. Jacqueline R. Bullock, Esq.
Wilson Duupah
Dr. Michele Forte, Director of Education
Donna Louise Jabrini
Michael C. Gale
Michael LeLand, Executive Director
Gerald McCarty
Bernard McGinley
Dr. John McWhorter V
Peter Patrikios, Diretor of Theatre Double Film
Jude Tuma, Chair
John Vincent
Matthew E. Weaver

Jude Tuma(Chairman, Board of Directors)-Mr. Tuma is the founder and managing partner of Geminus Capital Partners headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Previously, he was the founder and CEO of IRIS Consulting, Inc., a specialty-consulting firm that provided quantitative and data analytic services to clients in multiple industries.Mr. Tuma received his Bachelors degree with honors from the University of Texas, and an MBA from the Wharton Business School, with a concentration on Restructuring and Turnaround Management. He also obtained an MA in International Relations from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Aronte Bennett, PH.D- Professor of Marketing, Villanova University

Rev. Jacqueline R. Bullock, Esq. – Rev. Bullock is the Associate Pastor of James Methodist Church, Brooklyn, NY;  she was formerly Chaplain at Medgar Evers Community College, Brooklyn, NY.
Wilson Duupah- Mr. Duupah is former stage manager for Theatre Double and free lance music producer Currently Analyst Ancillary Business Operations MTV Networks.
Donna Louise Jabrini- Ms. Jabrini was formerly Marketing/Brand Manager  at Campbell Soup Company, currently she is in executive training program at Johnson and Johnson, Masters in Business Administration Wharton School of Business
Melanie Johnson- Ms. Johnson previously was Press Secratray to Mayor Edward Rendell, former director of Marketing for the Liacourias Center, Currently City Representative, City of Philadelphia
Michael C. Gale  -- Mr. Gale is currently Tax Account with Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP, he is a gradate with honors from Bucknell University
Gerald McCarty – Mr. McCarty is currently sole proprietor Several Dent Wizard franchises, Independent Real Estate investor and General Contractor.
Bernard McGinley – Mr. McGinley is the former Sales/Marketing Representative for Quaker City Chemical, and currently regional owner/operator of a national coffee distributor.
John McWhorter V,PH.D – Dr. McWhorter is a senior fellow Manhattan Institute for Public Policy and former Associate Professor University of California at Berkley.  He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford University and is the author of nine books including Losing the Race Self Sabotage in Black America
Peter Patrikios –
 John Vincent – Mr. Vincent is a free lance photographer former Information Service Specialist, Princeton University; formerly Associate Director of Technical Support .

Matthew E. Weaver- Mr. Weaver is a graduate of Friend's Central, Brown University and The London School of Economics. He is founder/Partner at Brownstein and Weaver, an award winning political consulting firm.