Bios
Robbie McCauley|1942-2021
1993 bio
Robbie has worked in New York as an actor, director, performance artist and writer for several decades. She appeared in the original Broadway cast of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" as well as a number of memorable Off-Broadway productions including works by Lanford Wilson and Adrienne Kennedy at Cafe Cino and the New York Shakespeare Festival. In 1979, she began her performance theater work, collaborating with composer Ed Montgomery on "The History of the Universe According to Those Who've Had to Live It" and other pieces. In the mid-1980s, she started a series of works in which 19th-century events in her family history serve as metaphors for the African-American experience of surviving racism. For one of these, "Sally's Rape,” she received a 1992 OBIE Award (Best New Play) and a 1990-1991 Bessie Award (Creative Achievement). A frequent collaborator with other performance artists, Robbie is a member of the performance trio Thought Music with Laurie Carlos and Jessica Hagedorn and hos also recently appeared in works by Fred Holland, Lea Cheong and Urban Bush Women.
Robbie McCauley died of congestive heart failure on May 20, 2021. For more information about her life and work, visit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_McCauley and
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/obituaries/robbie-mccauley-dead.html
A book of Robbie's scripts, essays, and other writings is scheduled to be published in May 2024. For more info about the book, visit:
https://www.amazon.com/Struggle-Continues-McCauley-Scripts-Reflections/dp/1559369744
Janice Allen|1993 bio
Allen is a well-known singer and music educator in greater Boston. Since 1972, she has been a featured performer in the National Center of Afro- American Artists' production of "Black Nativity" and in the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts' Voices of Black Persuasion group. She is a frequent performer al the Children's Museum in Boston and in John Langstaff's "Revels.” A resident of Mattapan, Janice is currently a fulltime music teacher at The Park School in Brookline, a music specialist at the Elma Lewis School in Roxbury and conducts teacher training sessions for the Boston Public Schools and The Children's Museum. She has also taught at Wheelock College's Nathan Hale School, Emerson College, Cambridge Montessori School and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, among others. A graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Kodaly Musical Training Institute, Janice was the recipient of Parents Paper's 1989 Family Entertainer of the Year award and the 1993 Berklee College Alumni Award.
For more recent information about Janice Allen, visit:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/org/revels/allen.html
Paula Elliott|1993 bio
A Detroit native, Paula is known for 1) singing music of the African-American sacred and secular traditions; 2) her determination to get her doctorate in education; 3) being an advocate for arts and education; 4) juggling many things at once. She has lived in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and the South End for 17 years.
For more recent information about Paula Elliott, visit:
https://artsandbusinesscouncil.org/staff-member/paula-elliott/ and
https://truthlearningchange.com/about/
John Ennis|1993 bio
John studied theater at Emerson College. Each week, he performs at Stitches comedy club as part of the Cross Comedy troupe and recently played the role of Senator Tye Fox in "Victims of the Ice Age” by Ken Jones at the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard. He has also appeared as Oronte in Moliere's "The Misanthrope" at the French Library and as Pringle in Joe Orton's "Funeral Games” at the House of Borax. John grew up in Needham, lived in Boston for 10 years and recently moved to Milton. The best part of his life is his baby daughter, Jessie.
For more recent information about John Ennis, visit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ennis_(actor) and
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0257890/
Kristin Johnson|1993 bio
A native of Charlestown, Kristin has worked in theater for the past eight years. She, her sister Jennifer and John Peitso are the new administrators of the recently reopened Charlestown Working Theater. Since 1989, the three also have produced works at other local theaters, ranging from Brecht's "Baal" at the BCA Theater to "Heaven and Hell,” a collaboration with other local artists at Mobius. As a member of the New Ehrlich Theater Company, Kristin appeared as Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and as Barry Champlain in "Talk Radio.” She is a two-time grant recipient from the Council for the Arts at MIT, and would like to thank Marie Cieri and Robbie McCauley for the chance to participate in "Turf.”
Kristin Johnson is now co-director of Charlestown Working Theater. Visit
https://charlestownworkingtheater.org/about/ for information about the theater.
Paul Leary|1993 bio
Paul is a junior at Newman Preparatory School in the Back Bay, where he is editor of the student newspaper and a member of the Yearbook Committee. Since 1988, he has been a program assistant al South Boston Neighborhood House, where he is theater arts coordinator, working primarily with children aged two to seven. Last summer, he appeared as Ben Budge in the MIT Community Players production of "The Beggar's Opera,” and recently presented a musical act at the opening of the Teen Tokyo exhibition at The Children's Museum. As a volunteer, Paul has worked as a video coordinator at Boston Neighborhood Network Television and as an assistant technician and a properties master for Ballet Theatre of Boston’s production of "The Nutcracker.” Paul lives in South Boston and lists his hobbies as dancing, singing, acting and computer graphics.
For more recent information about Paul Leary, visit:
http://www.paulleary.org/web/Home/Home.html and
https://news.wjct.org/people/paul-leary
Mari Novotny-Jones|1993 bio
A performance artist and teacher, Mari has been a member of City Stage Company and Mobius since the 1980s. She has won critical acclaim for her annual performance as Persephone in Mobius' "Persephone and Hades” and for her original one-woman show, "Inside a Legend,” a personal interpretation of the Joan of Arc stories. Most recently, Mari collaborated with Cathy Nolan and Eon White in performances of "The Month of Blood and Bonfires” and "Visum et Repartum,” both part of a contemporary culture series uncovering vampires and themes associated with blood, consumption, resurrection and renewal. She has worked at Lyric Stage, the New Ehrlich and the Publick Theatre in Boston as well as off-Broadway in New York, in Chicago and at Yellow Springs Institute in Pennsylvania. She has appeared in numerous commercials and as a nun in the television series "Spencer for Hire.” A resident of Hyde Park, she is currently writing her master's thesis in theater at Syracuse University.
For more recent information about Mari Novotny-Jones, visit:
https://www.bridgew.edu/department/theatre/mari-novotny-jones
Juanita Rodrigues|1993 bio
Born in Springfield, MA, Juanita grew up in Boston and attended Wellesley High School as part of the METCO program. She received her first exposure to the arts at the Elma Lewis School when she was 10 years old and also participated in Emerson College's youth theater program. She attended Emerson College, where she majored in communications and minored in theater. Juanita is the founder and director of the Agape Project, a drama ministry at St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge and also writes her own plays. She lives in Cambridge with her 10-year-old daughter Myisha, to whom she is grateful for supporting her theatrical endeavors.
For more recent information about Juanita Rodrigues, visit
https://bostonartsacademy.org/staff/juanita-rodrigues
James Spruill|1937-2010
1993 bio
A tenured associate professor at Boston University's School for the Arts Theater Division, James is familiar to Boston audiences from more than 20 years of performances on stage, television, film and radio. He has appeared with Theatre Company of Boston and co-founded New African Company (a small professional theater company dedicated to presenting the work of African American playwrights). Included among his recent honors are The Vernon Blackman Drama Award for Directing and Acting in "Back in the World" (1990) and The Eliot Norton Special Honors (1991) as a teacher and actor, especially for a series of performances as Frederick Douglass. He most recently directed and appeared in "The Trials of Brother Jere” by Wole Soyinka at Boston University. As part of his longtime collaboration with Lynda Patton, he will soon direct her prize-winning play, "Ole Sis Goose and Other Fox Tails.” He and Patton are currently organizing New African Company's first appearance at the National Black Theatre Festival. James lives in Mandela.
James Spruill died of pancreatic cancer on December 31, 2010. For more information about his life and career, visit:
http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2011/02/11/james_spruill_73_actor_and_founder_of_influential_black_theater_company/ and
https://www.baystatebanner.com/2011/02/15/an-actors-legacy/
Tom Sypek|1938-2016
1993 bio
Tom started acting with the South Boston Theatre Group more than 12 years ago in Clifford Odets' “Awake and Sing.” He has appeared in Dale Wasserman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,” Lanford Wilson's "The Hot L Baltimore” and Frederick Knott's "Wait Until Dark.” He has also acted in a number of Comedy Showcase dinner theater productions, including "Audition for Murder” and "Mind Over Murder." His own plays have been seen on local cable television and as part of "Hysteria,” a show he produced with three other playwrights at the Lyric Stage in 1966. Tom is a lifelong resident of South Boston.
Tom Sypek died on November 12, 2016 after a brief illness. For more information about Tom, visit:
Tezz Yancey|1993 bio
A native Bostonian, Tezz is an aspiring entertainer. He studies musical theater at the Boston Conservatory of Music. As part of the song and tap dance duo, Double Tyme, he frequently performs musical theater pieces dealing with race and other social issues at school assemblies as well as jazz nightclub acts in the style of the Nicholas Brothers. Tezz is currently recording his own songs and hopes to negotiate a record contract soon. He lives in the South End.
For more recent information about Tezz Yancey, visit:
https://resumes.actorsaccess.com//one_page_resume.cfm?custom_link=314459-1819310 and
https://anchor.fm/exploringimprov/episodes/Ep--7-Tezz-Yancey-eq3mhu