PROGRAM 2

Broke Down Drone by G. Riley Mills & Willie Round

One Act of Kindness by Juan Ramirez Jr.

G. Riley Mills (Playwright) is an award-winning writer, actor and producer. As an actor, he was featured in 35 Miles from Normal which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and The Home Coming for Worldwide Pictures. He has appeared on television in ER and Early Edition and onstage at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His play Lift Every Voice, (co-written with Prince Roc) was recently published by Dramatic Publishing and his play The Hundred Dresses  was produced at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City.  Mills is the co-author of the book, The Bullseye Principle, and was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of “Top Leadership Speakers of 2018." He presented his TEDx session "Are We Killing Communication?" at the Shanghai American School in Shanghai, China. He served as a communications consultant for the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace as well as for the MSNBC program "All In America: Chicago" which won a 2018 Emmy. Mills recently produced the film Bed which will premiere at the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. He has twice won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work.

Anthony Moseley (Director) is a Chicago-based producer and theatre-maker who has led numerous projects known for creative innovation and social change. He has been the Artistic Director of Collaboraction in Chicago since 1999 using theatre as a tool to cultivate empathy, dialogue and action around Chicago’s history of racism and oppression. Notable work include creating and producing the Sketchbook Festival (2000 - '16), Peacebook (2016 - '21) and serving as a Producer on Sandra Delgado's La Havana Madrid in a 2019 co-production with Teatro Vista at the Den Theater. As a writer/director he created Crime Scene: a Chicago Anthology (and its' 4 subsequent productions and city-wide tour for over 25,000 audience members), This is Not a Cure For Cancer, Connected and A Blue Island in the Red Sea. The pandemic led Collaboraction to establish its own Together Network where it produced over 50 videos including Lift Every Voice by G. Riley Mills and Willie Round, Oh Colonizers by Carla Stillwell (in post production), as well as monthly Zoom shows Crucial Connections and Becoming: Unlearning White Supremacy (seen here nationally on CBS with Norah O'Donnell). Anthony was also the MC for Kidzapalooza at Lollapalooza and Austin Kiddie Limits in 2019. He also is the creator and MC of Collaboraction's Dome of Dance and has been featured in The Beast on screen with Patrick Swayze, Ramin Bahrani's At Any Price on screen with Zac Efron and at the Goodman Theatre in the world premiere of Massacre or Sing To Your Children by Jose Rivera, among other numerous screens, stages and dance floors. He is currently working on the 6th annual Peacebook and Moonset Sunrise, a theatrical exploration of racial healing in Chicago to premiere in May '22. Broke Down Drone premiered at Peacebook 2019 directed by J. Nicole Brooks and it was adapted from Mills and Rounds' full length piece Mud Life. Let Hope Rise.

Willie “Prince Roc” Round (Anthony and Playwright) is a songwriter, playwright, videographer, mentor and hip-hop artist hailing from the West Side of Chicago who has performed across the country and opened for Grammy Award-winning artist Lil Wayne as well as Grammy-nominees Gucci Mane and Ralph Covert. Round does extensive outreach in the North Lawndale neighborhood in Chicago (also known as “The Holy City”) and has mentored inner city youth as part of the College Mentoring Experience as well as his own youth movement called MUD LIFE (Motivating the Urban to be Determined). He holds a BA in Communications Radio and Television Broadcasting from Central State University. He recently performed in Her Honor: Jane Byrne at Lookingglass Theatre and his play, Lift Every Voice, (co-written with G. Riley Mills) was recently published by Dramatic Publishing.

Max Thomas (Devontae) was raised on Jimi Hendrix, Rick James, & Soy Milk. He was destined to be a comedian.. His Chicago credits include Kenan Thompson Presents The Ultimate Comedy Experience; NBC Break Out Comedy Festival; 2018 Bob Curry Fellow (The Second City); Dutchmasters (Jackalope Theater); In The Blood (Red Tape Theater); Jitney (Congo Square Theater); Othello (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Max studied at The School at Steppenwolf, Second City Chicago & British American Drama Academy (B.A.D.A.) When he is not acting he is performing stand-up & spoken word improv with his team PREACH. He thanks family, friends, & James Baldwin for reminding him he is not alone.

BIOS:

Cristy Reynoso is a Dominican actor and writer based in New York City. Her previous theatre credits include: Sailing Stones (Willy, 2018 Downtown Urban Arts Festival, Don Juan (Isla, Dixon Place), Honor Among Thieves (Rosey, 2017 Downtown Urban Arts Festival performed at The Cherry Lane Theatre. Film credits include: Palace (Christy), an NYU thesis project based in Singapore, where she was also an acting member for the NYU Play Lab. She produced and starred in the short noir film Homme Fatale, which won the award for Best Use of Required Elements, part of the Bronx 48 Film Challenge and made its TV debut on Bronxnet. The film was also selected for the Concourse Film Festival. She is a Co-Founder of R & R Productions, producing stories that give voice to the voiceless. As producer, her film Alone With My Demons was selected as part of the Inwood Art Works New York City Quarantine Film Festival and won Best Bronx Film. The film was also selected for the Concourse Film Festival and the Mott Haven Film Festival. She is a member of the Bronx Repertory Company, trained with HB Studios and is a graduate from Lehman College with a B.A. in Theatre. She is one of the creators and is also starring in the web series #30s which will premiere in 2022. www.CristyReynoso.com

Angela Reynoso is a Dominican actress based in New York City. Her recent credits include "Radial Gradient", part of the Lime Arts Productions 20 by 20 Fringe this past May. She also starred in the awarded Best Bronx Film as Jada in "Alone With My Demons" by Juan Ramirez, Jr, selected for the 2021 Naked Angels Film Festival, 2020 NYC Quarantine Film Festival, Concourse Film Festival, and Mott Haven Film Festival. She completed the Intensive Ensemble workshop with Labyrinth Theatre Company this summer. Angela will star in an off-off Broadway show, The Love Hate Club written by Juan Ramirez, Jr for the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival this October. www.TheAngelaReynoso.com

Juan Ramirez, Jr. is a Borinqun-Chapn-Bronx internationally produced and award-winning playwright, monologist, director, screenwriter, filmmaker, poet and producer. Notable works include Calling Puerto Rico (Second Round Austin Film Festival, Miranda Family Voces Latinx Finalist with Repertorio Espaol, 2020 BAPF Finalist and a recipient of the 2019 BRIO Award) Ridin Shotgun (Best Play at Downtown Urban Arts Festival), Say Less (2021 Downtown Urban Arts Festival) The American Dream (NAV Playwrights Festival, BBTF) and Stroke of Madness (Ingenio Milagro, Cimientos). His horror short Alone With My Demons won Inwood Art Works NYC Quarantine Film Festivals Best Bronx Film. Hes a founder of The PlayPen Collective and R&R Productions with his wife Cristy Reynoso. Hes a Dramatist Guild member, 2020-2021 Dramatist Guild Fellow, NYC LatinX Playwright Circle member, an ATG PlayLab member and a teaching artist with Art Defined. He received his BA from Lehman College and his MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU Tisch. Awarded the Bronx Council New Works grants, stay tuned for his play titled A Love Letter To The Bronx. www.JuanRamirezJr.com @AJuanManShow