SATURDAY JANUARY 18, 2025
5:45-10pm
(Enter during five time slots starting at 5:45PM)
A BROOKLYN DREAM is an immersive theater experience set within the BROOKLYN POP EXHIBIT, celebrating Brooklyn’s impact on pop culture through the story of artist Kaves. Visitors follow a young Kaves as he embarks on a journey across three generations of his family’s artistic legacy.
The exhibit transforms into a live-action stage, with intricate sets, curated artifacts, and dynamic visuals, where actors blend seamlessly into the environment, inviting the audience to step into the story. Throughout the journey, guests can enjoy small bites and refreshments enhancing the sensory experience. These interactive performances bring Brooklyn’s rich cultural heritage to life, merging theater and reality for an unforgettable experience.
ALBA ALBANESE [DONNA]
Alba Albanese is an actress from Brooklyn, New York, and a multidisciplinary artist specializing in interactive experiences with emerging technology. She’s performed with Oscar-nominated actors and directors in Film, TV, Theater. Her one-person interactive theater with emerging technology, The Raven, was an official selection at the New York Film Festival. Alba also created and performed her character in the Off-Broadway show, Sleep No More, and wrote the book, lyrics, and performed in the Off-Broadway immersive musical Serenade. Alba’s work has been recognized at prestigious festivals, where she performed live, including; Tribeca Film Festival, Future of Storytelling, The Overlook Film Festival, and the Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival. Known for her original characters, her versatility in her acting performances, her interactive world-building in theater with tech, and immersive storytelling, she has received accolades for her innovative contributions to the arts. Her dedication has been awarded through artists grants including; the NYC Artist Corps, NYFA Artist Grant, Dramatist Guild, and Screen Actors Guild, highlighting her impact on the arts and commitment to elevating the creative landscape. Alba lives in New York City and is represented by Red Letter Entertainment.
QUINN McLEER [YOUNG KAVES]
Quinn McLeer is a Brooklyn-born writer, rapper, and actor who honed his craft at the esteemed HB Studio in New York City. His credits include the TV show The Brooklyn Way, the short film The Shoemaker, as well as numerous music videos.
ANTHONY O’CONNELL [YOUNG KAVES]
Anthony O’Connell is a New York-based actor and writer. As a youth, he enjoyed emulating his favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio, with his younger brother Tim around the house. But after studying abroad in Florence, Italy, followed by a life-changing trip to California and a ten-day meditation "sit", he decided to take his first acting class in Manhattan. It was official; he had the acting bug.
Anthony O’Connell graduated with a BA in Theatre from the City University of New York (CSI) and subsequently studied at the world-renowned, Stella Adler Conservatory. Most recently, he’s studied at HB Studio under veteran instructors Jim Boerlin and Mercedes Ruehl. Anthony has acted in the feature film “Don Q” as the second lead opposite Armand Assante (of “American Gangster”) and Vincent Pastore (of “The Sopranos”). On the stage, he has most recently acted in Beau Willimon’s, ‘Farragut North’ and “The Laramie Project” at the St. Jean's Players Theatre. He also continues his stage work at The Metropolitan Opera House and loves to write.
JOSEPH D’ONOFRIO [JOE]
Joseph D'Onofrio is an accomplished actor who has enjoyed both comedic and dramatic roles throughout his career. D'Onofrio began his acting career by landing roles in such films as "Good Fellas" (1990) as Young Tommy, Jungle Fever (1991) by Spike Lee, and played Slick in Robert De Niro's "A Bronx Tale" (1993), His passion for acting continued in the comedies, "The Pallbearer" (1996) The Deli" (1997) as well as dramatic roles such as Big Vinny in the drama “Friends And Romans (2014) and “Back in the Day” as Matty (2016)
D'Onofrio also worked in television during these years with recurring roles on ”30 Rock’ (2009-2010), "The Black Donnellys" (2006-2007), and "Are We There Yet?" (2010-2012). D’Onofrio most recently tackled roles in the feature film Comedy “A Brooklyn Love Story “(2024). Played Al Capone in the film Don Q (2024) And the Thriller Cold Betrayal (2023) He is currently working in a recurring role on the TV show Gravesend (2022-2024) He is recurring on the show Power Book 3 Raising Kanan (2022-2024) as Carmine. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
AL LINEA [AL]
Al Linea has been involved in the film industry for the past two decades, both as an actor and writer, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He's an experienced actor known for his authentic qualities, menacing look, and distinctive voice, and he also speaks Sicilian fluently. He consistently delivers very strong performances in every character role, having appeared on film and television throughout the years. He will be appearing as Rossi in the action drama Mafia Wars set in Rome, starring Tom Welling, released October 11th, 2024. Al Linea is represented by Erika McFadden.
NICKY PETITO [SAL]
Nicky Petito born in Belleville, NJ, is a multifaceted talent in the entertainment industry known for his impersonations. Nicky has collaborated with Spike Lee multiple times, including the "Do the Right Thing" 30th and 35th Anniversary block parties, where he portrayed Sal. Spike Lee complimented his "Sopranos Intervention Reenactment" and asked him to reenact a scene from "Mean Streets." Nicky was cast as a Wall Street businessman in Spike's Coin Cloud commercial "The Currency of Currency" and soon had his first TV co-star on NBC's "New Amsterdam. Through the years, Nicky has appeared in dozens of shorts and indie features.
As a filmmaker, Nicky directed the cult fan film "Halloween Obsession" and several other shorts. He founded Paisan Con, the first Italian-American pop culture convention, featuring celebrities like Lorraine Bracco, Eric Roberts and Nick Turturro. The convention included an Italian-American hip-hop show with Justina Valentine from MTV's "Wild n' Out," where Nicky performed rap parodies as Tony Soprano.
Nicky's priority is now to bring his passion project "The Devil's Son on Clinton Road" to the big screen.
ADAM KASTER [TONY]
Temple University graduate and former Brooklyn resident for 10 years. Off-Broadway: Drama Desk Nominated The Golden Bride (Folksbiene). Regional: Gaston in Beauty & the Beast (Walnut St. Theater), Tony in West Side Story, Bill in Mamma Mia, and Ram in Heathers: The Musical. Film/TV: "America's Next Top Model" and "The Hunted:Encore" (Web). Adam spends his free time as a securities lawyer for a large law firm.
Mark McNeil II is an actor, writer, and producer, quickly emerging as a premier young talent in entertainment. Originally from the Philadelphia area, he is featured in the Universal Studios film, Shooting Stars, streaming on Peacock.
MARK McNEIL [MOOKIE]
NICHOLAS TURTURRO [LIEUTENANT]
Nicholas Louis Turturro is an actor and artist based in Brooklyn. He works throughout New York's theatrical landscape, frequently on new works, and has been seen at Classic Stage Company, Soho Playhouse, The Tank, Lenfest Center for the Arts, and The Flea Theater. Additionally, he is an experienced film and commercial actor, having worked on festival-screened shorts and commercially with brands like SimpliSafe, Bumble, and Yahoo. In his own time, he self-produces live painting performances focused around his visual art practice.
GIL SWEENEY [BASEBALL FURIE]
Gil Sweeney is an actor and musical theater artist from New York. He studied at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Recent credits include The Happening(Neo), Headspace (Arthur), and Being Ariodante (Thug/Statue).
PAULIE NUGENT [RALPH]
Paulie Nugent has enjoyed over 30 years in the performing arts. He got his start in the feature film A BRONX TALE (Stickball Kid uncredited), then in 1993 became a full-time member of THE LORDZ of BROOKLYN. Paulie went on to write, produce, and perform nationally and globally on both his solo projects and for multiple notable artists, including LBDA/Sublime, Bible Code Sundays/Elvis Costello, Burn Unit, and Skunk Records.
JEFFREY DONALD THOMAS
[GHOST OF FOX]
Jeffrey Donald Thomas is a multi-hyphenate artist based in Brooklyn. He attended NYU Tisch for Photography while simultaneously training as an actor at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. After graduating in 2022, Jeffrey began working as an actor, photographer, music producer, and independent filmmaker.
SHAWN PARSONS [BONES]
Based in New York City for more than twenty years, the Alabama native is best known for co-starring with Nick Offerman in "The Gunfighte," an internationally acclaimed short film. Other notable roles include “The Pig” in the final season of FX's "Justified," as “Sam” in The CW series "Containment,” countless Indie films, and being cut out of every major studio film he’s ever been in. Shawn is also an Americana singer-songwriter, and his music can be found on all major streaming platforms.
MARA KAYE [BARBRA OF BROOKLYN]
Bred and buttered in Flatbush Brooklyn, irresistible vocal force, Mara Kaye is the girl Jazz Lives calls “one of New York’s great gifts to the world”. She’s got “a voice that sounds like Louis Armstrong’s trumpet at a rent party” [Jimmy Vivino, Conan O’Brien Show] and a sharp comedic savior faire that’s reminiscent of some of the early comediennes of the stage and screen. Mara’s debut single, the forever iconic love song, IT HAD TO BE YOU, can be heard on steady rotation on LA’s jazz station, KJAZZ 88.1 fm and features roots piano legend Carl Sonny Leyland. Her second single, DYSTOPIAN BLUES, an original tune, was featured on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ and performed live on CBS News in 2020. She wrote and sang the hook for Brooklyn rap legend AZ’s track, NEVER ENOUGH, featuring renowned rapper Rick Ross.
Mara’s voice has soaked into the walls of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Smalls, Cafe Bohemia, Mezzrow, her beloved Sunny's Bar in Red Hook BK, The Green Mill in Chicago, the streets of New Orleans and even as far as Moscow Russia. She created and performed her role of the chanteuse, Marion Rhodes in the Off-Broadway show, Sleep No More.
She has shared stages with Blues giants Joe Bonamassa, Jimmy Vivino, John Primer, Taildragger, Jontavious Willis, Jerron Paxton and recently opened the Topanga Blues Festival in Southern California. Early on in her career she toured the US with the Yerba Buena Stompers, a true traditional jazz band of venerable jazz veterans, led by her mentor, banjo/ guitarist John Gill. Members of the band have played with the legendary Turk Murphy, Leon Redbone, The Woody Allen Jazz Band and some have even backed up Louis Armstrong himself.
Mara has most recently teamed up with virtuosic bass player and arranger, Marlon Martinez and his big band, The Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, collaborating on new arrangements of iconic Billie Holiday and Billy Strayhorn tunes and original Blues tunes.
What’s that old saying? ‘You can take the girl out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take the Brooklyn outta the girl … The Wall Street Journal thinks this vivacious Brooklynite is “proof that things are getting better”.
EMILY FEINSILVER [YOUNG BARBRA]
Emily Feinsilver is a Musical Theater major at Professional Performing Arts High School. She fell in love with performing in her first middle school production of Oliver. Since then, she has performed in several productions in her school and with Kidz Theater, and serves as an Ambassador and Mentor to the KT community.
TEAGHAN HELM [DUTCHIE]
Teaghan Helm is a 12-year-old student at a performing arts middle school, where he focuses on drama. Last year, he took on the role of Michael in Mary Poppins, and this year, he’s excited to be playing a lost boy in Peter Pan. In addition to his love for acting, he enjoys playing soccer and football, and he treasures spending time with his friends. He is also dedicated to saving up for a motorbike that he hopes to buy soon.