Adam David Cohen, Executive Director
Adam David Cohen is a Graduate of the Musical Theatre Writing Program at Tisch School of the Arts. He is the founder and executive director of LITTLE VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE (LVP), a not for profit theatre group in Pleasantville, NY. Recent LVP directing credits include: Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, Floyd Collins, Pacific Overtures, Saturn Returns, Gorey Stories, Anyone Can Whistle, and The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show. Adam has composed the scores for Oh Manhattan! (performed at Rose's Turn in 1997), Sodom (produced at the Kraine Theatre) as well as RumpleStiltSkin and The Hadleyburg Project (produced at The Metropolitan Playhouse). Adam has worked as a composer for Independent Film Channel, Bravo and American Movie Classics as well as for many industrial videos.
Stephanie Kovacs, Artistic Director
Stephanie Kovacs is an actor, teaching artist, and director. Originally from Illinois, She has worn the above hats, as well as that of casting director in the New York area since 1996. Most recently, she appeared in The Apple in New York City and Metamorphoses at the Florida Studio Theatre. Stephanie has worked Off-Broadway in Tibet Does Not Exist with the Theatre for Human Rights, and has been seen regionally as Amanda in Private Lives, Smeraldina in A Servant of Two Masters and Elizabeth in Six Degrees of Separation. Other favorite roles include: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Melissa in Love Letters, The Woman in Scotland Road and Holly in the new musical, Oh, Manhattan! Stephanie serves as a director at the Little Village Playhouse and as a director and master teacher at the Play Group Theatre, where combined, she has directed over 29 youth productions. At LVP some of those include: Into the Woods, Woody Guthrie's American Song, and A. . .My Name Will Always Be Alice. Stephanie trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory at Tisch/NYU, Yale, and The American Conservatory for Theatre.
Galit Sperling, Director of Education
Galit has been a Teaching Artist and Director at LVP since 2004, now serving as the Director of Education. Some directing credits include Really Rosie, Schoolhouse Rock, and Bernice Bobs Her Hair. In addition, she is an NYU/Tisch alumna, actor and singer. Currently, Galit is a resident company member of two theatre companies in NYC: Nylon Fusion Collective and Carnival Girls Productions. Galit has performed at numerous theatres in New York including the Abingdon Theatre and Metropolitan Playhouse. Most recently, Galit was seen in the NYCFringe premiere of No Fault at the Kraine Theatre.
Amy Schiff, Musical Director
Amy has been teaching voice and musical directing in Westchester for 14 years. She has an MA in voice from NYU and a BA in music from Binghamton where she appeared as Louisa in The Fantastiks and musical directed the a cappella group The Harpeggios for 3 years. She has since musical directed Sweeney Todd, 42nd Street, Tommy, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music, City of Angels, Lucky Stiff, Merrily We Roll Along and many others. She regularly coaches students for NYSSMA and for auditions at all levels.
Jocelyn Jones, Choreographer
Jocelyn Jones has been involved in various aspects of musical theater since the age of 14. Jocelyn is a SUNY student majoring in performing arts. She has trained in jazz, hip hop, tap, and modern, specializing in the dance styles of Bob Fosse and Alvin Ailey; having trained with members of the Ailey II company. Jocelyn has spent several years choreographing and teaching dance throughout Westchester County for various groups, including Little Village Playhouse, Cagle & Company Arts Warehouse, and Rivertown Teen Summerstock. She has been working with children for the last nine years. Specific choreography credits include Pippin, Tommy, Wizard of Oz, Godspell, Anyone Can Whistle, Footloose, and Dames at Sea. She recently worked alongside Philip Rose in Cagle & Company's production of Purlie.
Marcus Baker, Musical Director
Marcus Baker is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Since moving to the City, Marcus has been a freelance pianist and music director for many local and regional theatres. Marcus has worked with Adam before in several productions; his first production was Sunday in the Park With George last spring. He has since also played their summer workshop and the inaugural Pleasantville Music Festival (yeah pizza man). He is also currently working as a choral director with the Metropolitan Opera Guild in their public school program, Urban Voices.
Leah Wagner-Stout
Director of Business Affairs and Special Events Director
Leah Wagner-Stout is a 2010 graduate of Wake Forest University, with a degree in Vocal Performance. She joined LVP before it even existed, and she has been a member (student/alumna/employee) ever since. She has performed in 16 shows with LVP, including Into the Woods (Baker's Wife) and RumpleStiltSkin (Pam), plus all five alumni shows. She is now a young theatre professional; she recently interned at Manhattan Theatre Club and she freelances with Elissa Meyers Casting and Jen Rudin Casting, in addition to her work at LVP.
Patrick Gallagher, Writer/Assistant Director
Patrick Gallagher is a 2005 graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A. in Theater. He attended The CAP21 program for musical theater, as well as the Stone Street Film and Television Studio. Patrick has been involved with LVP in some capacity for the better part of 7 years, starting as a student, and becoming a student assistant director, book writer, tech crew member, percussionist, assistant director, guest director, lyricist and ultimately co-director (with Stephanie Kovacs, for Zombie Prom). He is also a playwright, having written 3 full length musicals with Adam Cohen over the last three summers, as well as numerous other less distinguished pieces. He would call himself an actor, but, unfortunately no one has paid him for his talent yet. But the time soon will come! Favorite non paying roles include Guiteau (Assassins), Man (The Apple), and Sweeney Todd.