KATHERINE LAFOUNTAIN, 1. BayportCredit Pasha KalachevTHE GIG Shes a musical theater performer who has worked on Long Island and New York City stages. HER STORY Katherine starting taking dance lessons when she was 2, and by age 7 she had her first role in the childrens musical Pinkalicious. She has since appeared in many productions at both Gateway Playhouse in Bellport and the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, including Billy Elliot and Mary Poppins. My favorite role was Jane Banks in Mary Poppins because I was in the whole show and got to see a lot of character development. She also had roles on TV in Boardwalk Empire and appeared in a sketch with Paul Rudd on Saturday Night Live. Katherine is also a trained ballet dancer who has studied with the American Ballet Theatre. WHATS NEXT Shell play Zazu in The Lion King Jr. Gateway starting July 2. American Ballet Studio in Bayport three times in August. JAMES ALEXANDER, 3. Central IslipCredit Courtney SchubartTHE GIG He began a one year tenure with the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company in June. HIS STORY Alexander studied theater at Suffolk Community College in Selden but followed the family tradition of joining the New York Police Department in January 2. After getting injured and being confined to a desk job, he left the force in September 2. I just knew I could be happier doing this and felt like it was a better way that I could reach people, he says. His love of Shakespeare led to roles in Much Ado About Nothing at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and King Henry in Henry IV Part One at The Long Island Shakespeare Festival. For his first outing with the Cincinnati company, the trim Alexander plays Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor. They have this big fat suit they put me in and it looks ridiculous, but the more ridiculous the better, he says. WHATS NEXT On Aug. Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. JOE GIARRATANO, 3. Seaford. THE GIG This stand up comic will be at Madison Theatre at Molloy College on Saturday night. HIS STORY Giarratano, who now lives in Brooklyn, was always the funny guy in my group of friends, and started doing comedy open mic nights after college. Hes since performed at many clubs on Long Island, including Governors, and in New York City Carolines, and also is part of the Long Island Comedy Festival. My comedy speaks to the thoughts everyone has throughout the course of the day that are not socially acceptable to say out loud, he says. One example He does a routine about tourists who fall in the subway because they dont know how to hold on to the grips. Hes also worked with headliners like Rob Schneider, who gave him some key advice, Giarratano says He said you have to let the audience get to know you as a person, and then theyll like you. WHATS NEXT Hell be at Greenwich Village Comedy Club on July 2. Grisly Pear in Manhattan on Aug. ADVERTISEMENTADVERTISE HEREREBECCA LYNN GOLDFARB, 1. OceansideCredit Yolanda Perez PhotographyTHE GIG Shes acted onstage, on television and in film. HER STORY Goldfarb has performed since she was 6. Her first job was a TV commercial for a plumbing company, and she then appeared in the musical Children of Eden as the storyteller. After taking acting and singing lessons, she landed roles in shows such as White Christmas at Gateway Playhouse in Bellport. She also was in the Broadway event The Godspell Cast of 2. Apollo Theater. Portraying Nina in In the Heights at Cultural Arts Playhouse in Syosset last year was an especially rewarding experience. I was playing a role older than me, but one I related to so much due to her emotion and that it was all about family, Goldfarb says. WHATS NEXT Goldfarb was recommended by her school to attend a three week acting program at Yale University this summer. CLAUDE SOLNIK, 5. PlainviewCredit Bob GiglioneTHE GIG His play Nowhere Man runs through June 1. Theater for the New City in Manhattan. HIS STORY Solnik, who also works as a reporter for a business publication, began developing an ear for dialogue by listening to conversations among locals while living in Paris after college. He turned his observations into playlets, which were performed as readings at Paris galleries. Since then, hes written six plays that have been performed in both New York City and on Long Island, including Year of the Iguana, about Tennessee Williams. Nowhere Man tells the story of a man who was hired as a double for Paul Mc. Cartney during the height of The Beatles success. As a journalist, I see no reason to invent everything when the world is full of so many things going on, he says. Im painting from life, which is often more interesting than painting totally from imagination. WHATS NEXT Solnik says he has several other plays hes working on. STEPHANIE TORNS, 3. BohemiaCredit Dirty SugarTHE GIG She plays doctors wife Francine Pomatter in the Broadway musical Waitress, and is star Sara Bareilles understudy. HER STORY Torns was a competitive dancer as a youngster and fell in love with musical theater after appearing as a male in her high schools production of Oklahoma After graduating from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Torns joined the national tour and later the Broadway company of Wicked as an ensemble member and understudy for the part of Elphaba, a role she did get to play. Shes also gone on for Bareilles in Waitress, which she said was both thrilling and daunting. You have to win the audience over, Torns says about being an understudy. Its kind of a fun challenge, but its also not an easy position. Torns adds that the camaraderie among the Waitress cast has been a job perk, even better than getting to indulge in pecan pie at each performance. WHATS NEXT Torns hopes to maybe dive into the TV world. PARIS RAY, 2. St. JamesCredit Karen RubinTHE GIG This singer songwriter just won Gold Coast Arts Centers Your Big Break competition. HER STORY Ray began as an actress, who appeared with Kevin Kline in King Lear at the Public Theater in 2. Nickelodeons i. Carly in 2. In ninth grade, she began singing and writing her own songs. My songs are like a musical diary, Ray says, because theyre so personal. Every song is directly about something that happened to me in my life. She performed two of those songs, Astronomy and Get Well Soon, in the Your Big Break finale. Her prizes included the chance to record one of her songs, a feature by Reverb. Nation and an opening spot at The Paramount in Huntington. As soon as I heard that, the first person that came to mind is Ingrid Michaelson, Ray says. Shes so cool, so talented, and her music is also very personal. WHATS NEXT Ray will perform at the Montauk Music Festival, which runs May 1. DOROTHY JAMES, 2. Kings ParkCredit Corinne LouieTHE GIG Shes a puppeteer who worked in the Off Broadway show Made in China. HER STORY James was an actress doing experimental theater a few years ago, including one show that had an element of puppetry. Mystery Thriller Cartoons Canvas. It wasnt Muppet style, but very abstract. It was something new for me, and I really loved it, she says. James soon mastered both full body and Bunraku style, a Westernized version of the Japanese puppetry art involving a few people. One is in charge of the feet, another does the pelvis with one hand and the head with the other hand, she says. Last year, James was a puppeteer in Radio City Music Halls New York Spectacular, where she gave life to stage versions of the New York Public Library lions and the Statue of Liberty. On the darkly comic puppet musical Made in China, James was one of seven puppeteers who worked on 3. WHATS NEXT James will be performing Before the Sun and Moon with the Mettawee River Theatre Company throughout New England this summer.
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