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Rachel Lampert
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Lesley Greene
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Rachel Lampert
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Lesley Greene
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Associate Artists
Fitz&StartZ Productions Associate Artists are a group of performers, musicians, composers, writers and designers who create and appear in productions during our seasons. The ensemble is augmented by local much-younger actors and current college students when roles require additional actors. Interested in joining us? Send your inquiry to rachel@fitzandstartzproductions.org
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Meet our Artists!
Rachel Lampert – Co-Founder, Artistic Director
RACHEL LAMPERT has been writing, directing and producing plays for young people and their families for more than two decades. She loves theater, music and dance and uses Fitz&Startz Productions as a way of sharing enthusiasm with audiences of all ages. Her plays include I Have A Song to Sing O!, The Amazing Tale of the Overnight Backyard Adventure, The Mystery of the Magic Flute, and with composer-collaborator Lesley Greene Physics Fair, the Emmett & Ella Trilogy, and Winter Tales. She served for twenty years as artistic director of Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY where she produced challenging and provocative new and recent plays. She championed women and artists of color and led the theater’s capital campaign to build a permanent new home. She retired from KTC in June 2017. Since retiring she has been spearheading Fitz&Startz Productions. “A perfect Third Act! I write, I get to work with talented young theater artists, and continue exploring the nature of performance and new theatrical formats. The best retirement I could imagine.”
Lesley Greene – Co-Founder, Composer, Director
LESLEY LISA GREENE GREENE is an Ithaca-based writer, composer, dramaturge and producer. With creative partner Rachel Lampert, she has collaborated on 18 plays, musicals, and dance pieces. Her three degrees in science from Cornell University became useful in Fitz&Startz' production of Physics Fair, performed at Kitchen Theatre Company in January 2015 and at the American Association of Physics Teacher’s Annual Conference in College Park, Maryland. In addition to composing music, she plays flute, trumpet and ukulele, and all these have been incorporated into Fitz&Startz Productions performances. She served as Associate Producer of Kitchen Theatre Company and resident sound and projection designer, leader of the marketing department, and go-to person for all things technical from 2000-2020. She is an avid swing dancer, and her choreography has been featured in Fitz&Startz Productions as well as for fundraising events around Ithaca. Lesley is a co-founder of Porchfest, a music festival held on the porches of the Fall Creek and Northside neighborhoods since 2007 that has now spread to over one hundred cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Travis Knapp – Music Director, Accompanist
TRAVIS KNAPP is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter originally from Clinton, NY. He studied piano at Ithaca College ('07), and now lives in Erin, NY. He is also a vegetable gardener and touring bicyclist.
John Coyne – Composer
JOHN COYNE is a musical theatre songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and performer. His music has been heard at 3LD, 54 Below, Schimmel Center, The Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, Weston Playhouse, and more. Recently, he wrote incidental music for and performed in BEDLAM’s Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet. Other favorites include Masc4Mask: A Solo Queer Commedia Show (original music), and Cubicle the Musical (PIT Loft, music and additional lyrics). BFA in Acting: Pace University. He composed the music for Aunt Mae Comes to Town, Emmett & Ella: A Doggone Mystery and The Memory Book: A new Aunt Mae story.
Sana Sarr (Nicky)
SANA SARR, is a sophomore at Ithaca College majoring in musical theater.
Amanda Hopko (Olivia)
AMANDA HOPKO is a sophomore at Ithaca College majoring in acting.
Gabriella Galante (Liza)
GABRIELLA GALANTE is a graduate of Niagara University.