Where We Belong Bios
Cast Biographies
GiGi Buddie (Achokayis) is honored to be making her debut with The Umbrella Stage Company! As an artivist, her professional and personal pursuits converge at the intersection of art and climate justice. While on a gap year, she helped to bring frontline climate stories to Glasgow at the United Nations Climate Summit, and released her debut single “Ursa Major” – a love letter to the Iroquois story of the Celestial Bear. As an actor, singer, songwriter, and activist, she creates and contributes to stories of creation, resilience, and beauty from frontline communities. GiGi received a B.A. from Pomona College in Theatre Performance and Environmental Analysis. Previous credits include: Auntie 2 (Antíkoni, World Premiere), Anna (If Nobody Does Remarkable Things), Feste (Twelfth Night), Ruby (Daphne’s Dive), and Marty (Circle Mirror Transformation). She wants to thank Tara and Chingwe for their unwavering support! Aheeiyeh.
Chingwe Padraig Sullivan (Understudy Achokayis) (she/they/he/nákum) is a New England based two-spirit Indigenous actor (Shinnecock and Montaukett Nations), last seen as Aaron in Haunted at Company One, also directed by Tara Moses. They studied for three years at the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program, where she played roles such as Adam/Leo in The Inheritance at Trinity Rep. Since leaving, they played Levi in the world premiere of Cashed Out at San Francisco Playhouse, Iago in Othello at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, Felix Turner in The Normal Heart. Other work includes the short Emerald Bay, which is currently in post-production, working with famous Indigenous Feminist theatre company, Spiderwoman Theater, on Misdemeanor Dream, and being part of the core ensemble of Safe Harbors NYC’s new show, Feast of Ghosts. Táputni i skitôpák wôk cipayak ta manitok wuci yo ahki.
Creative Team Biographies
Brian Boruta (Producer) This is Brian’s 56th production with The Umbrella and his 52nd as the Director of Performing Arts, during which time he has earned Best Production nominations for Glengarry Glen Ross, Red, Angels in America, Equus and Bonnie & Clyde; a DASH Award for Best Play for True West and To Kill A Mockingbird, and Best Musical for Parade and Big Fish. The Umbrella directing credits include: Parade (Dash Award for Best Director of a Musical) Big Fish (DASH Nom.), Hair, Evita, Side Show, Next to Normal, The Rocky Horror Show. Elsewhere: Sweeney Todd, Legally Blonde, Godspell, Seussical the Musical, The Actor’s Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You. Favorite on-stage credits include Billy Lawlor in 42nd Street (DASH Nom.), Judas/John the Baptist in Godspell, Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain, Austin in True West, and Greg in A Chorus Line. As a designer and educator, Brian has worked with numerous college, high school and community groups including Merrimack College, Goddard College, Framingham State University, The Performing Arts Center of MetroWest, Brookline, Chelsea and Wellesley Public School. His solo piece, UnMasqued, has been workshopped and performed at the Wheeler Theater in Port Townsend, WA. Brian holds a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College and was named the recipient of the 2014 Framingham State University Young Alumni Achievement Award for his work in the performing arts.
Tara Moses (Director) (she/her) is a citizen of Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, Mvskoke, director, award-winning playwright, and co-Founder of Groundwater Arts. Boston Area: Haunted, Company One; The Thanksgiving Play, Moonbox Productions; Listen to Sipu, New Repertory Theatre. Selected Regional: Pueblo Revolt, Santa Fe Playhouse; Fugitive Songs and True West, Brown/Trinity Rep; Cashed Out, San Francisco Playhouse; Pickup Truck Opera: Romeo and Juliet, Mixed Precipitation; Othello, South Dakota Shakespeare Festival; The Oklahoma Cycle (Arbeka/Snag/Billie), Groundwater Arts; Post-Pre-Continued Contemporary Colonial Genocide, Arena Stage; The True Story of Pocahontas, Serenbe Playhouse. Education: MFA in Directing, Brown/Trinity Rep. Other: Tara is an advisory board member of Broadway for Racial Justice, member of the Directors Lab at Lincoln Center, recipient of the Thomas C. Fichandler Award, Barbara Whitman Award finalist, Dramatists Guild member, and an associate member of SDC. www.taramoses.com
Madeline Sayet (Playwright) is a Mohegan theater maker who believes the stories we pass down inform our collective possible futures. For her work as a director, playwright, and performer, she has been honored as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, TED Fellow, National Directing Fellow, NCAIED Native American 40 Under 40, and a recipient of The White House Champion of Change Award from President Barack Obama. Her plays include: Where We Belong, Up and Down the River, Antigone Or And Still She Must Rise Up, Daughters of Leda, The Neverland, and The Fish. Her theater directing work has been seen at Long Wharf Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Perseverance Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theater, TheatreSquared, Delaware Shakespeare Festival, South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, The Krannert Center, Glimmerglass Festival, 59e59, and more. Her play Where We Belong has been performed at The Public Theater (Audelco Nom), Seattle Rep (Winner, Heilman & Haver Award for Best Play of the 2022-2023 Seattle Theater Season), Hudson Valley Shakespeare, The Goodman Theatre (Jeff Award Nomination for Best Solo Performance), Philadelphia Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Baltimore Center Stage as part of a national tour produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with The Folger Shakespeare Library. It was originally performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2019 and is published by both Methuen Drama and Dramatists Play Service. She serves as a Clinical Associate Professor at Arizona State University with the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS), and is the Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). www.madelinesayet.com
Tree Brock (Wardrobe Supervisor) is proud to be working with The Umbrella again after joining them as Wardrobe supervisor on Network, RENT, Middleton Heights, The Color Purple, LIZZIE, The Minutes, and Now. Here. This.. They have previously worked as the costume designer with Hoovey Theatre doing Witch, Marjory Prime, and Pillowman. They were also costume designer with The Christmas Carol in Waltham. Most days Tree also works backstage and costume work for Drag me to Brunch and Strut or at Walnut Hill School for the Arts with the Dance department costumes and adjustments. During the summer they help at Creative Arts helping kids costume creation and looks for the summer productions. Their company is Red Bark Crafting and believes you should fly your fandom banners proudly.
Chris Brousseau (Sound Designer) Recent credits: Yellow Face, Footlight Club (Sound Design); Now. Here. This., The Minutes, The Umbrella Stage Company (Audio Tech); Sweat, Footlight Club (Sound/Video Design, EMACT DASH nominated); Appropriate, Hovey Players (Sound Design); Proof, Footlight Club (Sound Design); Xanadu, Footlight Club (Sound Design); Woman in White, Footlight Club (Technical Direction, Virtual Theater, EMACT DASH Award for Excellence in Technical Direction). More at chrisbrousseau.com.
Cass Meehan-Marinich (Costume Designer) (they/them) is a Mohegan craftsman, photographer, sewist, and more. They worked in Philadelphia as a Props Master, Costume Designer, Production Photographer, and Stage Manager before taking their current role as Arts & Crafts Program Coordinator within their Mohegan Tribe community.
Zoe Pepin (Stage Crew) last appeared as Camera B tech/Technician in Network at The Umbrella. She previously worked backstage for the company on Lizzie and The Full Monty. Zoe was recently seen as Player 3 in the premier of Backstage Bards, a Shakespeare workshop at The Colonial Theatre of Westerly, RI.
Nerys Powell (Stage Manager) has stage managed extensively for Lyric Stage Boston since 2002. Her most recent productions there were Crumbs From the Table of Joy and Urinetown: The Musical. This is Nerys' first production with The Umbrella.
Baron E. Pugh † (Scenic Designer) is a Boston-based scenic designer for theater and opera. Select credits include: The Umbrella: Now. Here. This., The Colored Museum, The Old Man and the Old Moon; Off-Broadway: As Time Goes By (Out of the Box Theatrics in associated with Ice Berg Production), shadow/land (Associate Designer) (The Public Theater). NYC: King Lear, The Tempest (The Juilliard School, Drama Division). Regional: The Anonymous Lover (Opera Philadelphia), The Lehman Trilogy (Gulfshore Playhouse); Million Dollar Quartet, B.R.O.K.E.N code B.I.R.D switching (Berkshire Theatre Group); Primary Trust, ABCD (Barrington Stage); associate designer for: The Grove, Sojourners, K-I-S-S-I-N-G (Associate Designer), The Bluest Eye (Associate Designer) (The Huntington Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, School Girls (TheatreSquared). Baron received his MFA in Scenic Design from Boston University. @bpscenic on Instagram
Ben Rush (Lighting Desginer) has spent over 30 years working in all aspects of theatre; as a performer, director, designer, technician, and youth educator. Ben received formal training from both Florida School of the Arts (Performance) as well as the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Scenic Technology). His work has been seen on the creative team behind America's Got Talent (Assistant Creative Director), on The Dai Show (a cirque spectacular for the DRAGONE company), and with Jim Henson's Muppets. Credits include Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional, and Educational productions. Currently he is the Artistic Director of Wellesley Theatre Project, an arts academy for students age 4-18 in Wellesley, MA.
Dani Smith (Sound Op)
Sarabeth Spector (Properties/Set Dressing) is a scenic and properties designer based in Medford, MA. Credits include: A Christmas Carol (Props Designer; Commonwealth Shakespeare Comapny), Amour (Props Designer; Emerson Stage); Now. Here. This. (Umbrella Stage Company), Mermaid Hour (Assistant Scenic Designer, Properties Designer; Moonbox Productions), Cost of Living (Properties Designer; SPEAKEASY STAGE), Legally Blonde (Scenic Designer; Moonbox Productions), Honeyhole (Scenic Designer; Moonbox Productions), Boston New Works Festival (Properties Designer; Moonbox Productions), Jado Jehad (Properties Designer; Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), For The Fish (Associate Scenic Designer; Moonbox Productions), NIGHTTOWN (Scenic Designer; Lowell House Opera), Baltimore (Scenic Designer, Emerson Stage) sarabethspector.com
Kira Troilo & Ariel Welch, Art & Soul Consulting (EDI Consultants) ART & SOUL CONSULTING provides Equity, Diversity & Inclusion services tailored for theater and arts spaces. Since 2022, they've provided nuanced, care-forward support for theater & performance companies, educational institutions, and arts spaces nationally and internationally, serving organizations such as The Umbrella Arts Center, Goodspeed Musicals, Stratford Festival, TheatreSquared, TDM at Harvard University, SpeakEasy Stage Company, and more. Our preventive approach builds trust and creates long-term success, fostering brave, playful spaces where artists can safely explore and thrive. With a mission to build bridges between goals and action, and between people, we offer an outside perspective that embeds EDI into the fabric of organizations and show processes for meaningful, ongoing progress. www.artandsoulconsulting.com
