Creative Team

Writer/Director..............................................Meghan Covington

Lighting Design...........................................Sarah French
Sound Design.......................................Heather Campanelli

Musical Score..........................Joanna Levine and Jupiter Dune

 

The Cast

The Lavender Lady..................................Jessica Carmen

The New Girl...........................................Mika Wurf

The Hermit...........................................Ed Herbstman

The Captive.............................................Traci Redmond

The Visitor...........................................Bryant Lewis

*Understudy ..........................................Jed Aicher

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About River's Edge Theatre Company

River’s Edge Theatre Company's mission is to reflect the human experience, spark conversation, and inspire social change.

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Do you value theatre for social change?

Do you want to see more of it in the Rivertowns?
River's Edge Theatre Co. depends on generous donors like you.

 

 

 

River's Edge Theatre Company is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of River's Edge Theatre Company must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

 

Jessica Carmen (The Lavender Lady)
Jessica Carmen is a Cuban American actress, classically trained singer and mama to two adorable, hilarious little kids. She's been in several commercials including "The Unmovers" for Optimum Cable, New Jersey Lotto, "Orgullosos de ser Latino" for New York 1 news and a national print ad for ProAir. Selected TV guest spots include: "The Rundown with Robin Thede" on BET, and many spooky crime reenactment shows on Discovery including "A Crime to Remember", "A Perfect Murder" and "Celebrity Ghost Stories". Online, you can catch her in a few webseries including "Sixth Degree" and "Educated Fleas". She studied opera and piano performance at the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Kentucky, and went on to study acting and improv at ESPA Primary Stages and Upright Citizen's Brigade in NYC. You can read more about her (and check out some of her silly original songs about motherhood) at www.JessicaCarmen.com. 

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Mika Wurf (The New Girl)
Mika Wurf is an actor, singer, dancer, and currently a junior in high school. She has been studying acting at Stella Adler Studio of Acting and recently completed the Teen Summer Conservatory. She has played Fatima Ahmadi in the professional run of It’s Easy!; Meghan in The New Kid Tour; Ariel in The Little Mermaid; Lucy van Pelt in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown and Grace Clements in Working. In addition, her film work includes; award winning independent short film Cramming (directed by Dan Perlman); Breakfast at the Bodega (produced by Failure Island) and numerous graduate student films at Columbia University. As scary things are right up her alley, Mika is super excited to be a part of Riverside Haunts!

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Ed Herbstman (The Hermit)

Ed Herbstman is an actor and writer from Chicago. Film: Hustlers, The Big Sick, Ode To Joy, Arthur, TV: Manifest, Search Party, Alpha House, Pinkalicious, Theater: Second City Kennedy Center, Laurie Stanton’s Sound Diet, Mantzoukas Brothers, Armando Show. Ed has appeared in over a dozen commercials, and has been featured on Radiotopia’s The Truth Podcast - pieces include “Moon Graffiti” “Tape Delay”, “Mirror Lake”, “The Mutiny”, Everybody Scream”, “Biological Clock”, and “False Ending”. He has written for public radio, including WNYC Studios’ “Here’s The Thing with Alec Baldwin” and was a contributing writer for season two of Da Ali G Show. Ed is a co-founder of New York City’s Magnet Theater where he performs regularly and teaches improvisation. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Drama for Syracuse University. He’s currently a volunteer firefighter and EMT in the Hastings On Hudson Fire Department where he lives with his family.

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Traci Redmond (The Captive)

Traci Redmond is a theater maker and performer who is passionate about the arts. NYC stages: Manhattan Theater Club, Dixon Place, fi:af/PS122, Primary Stages, bluemouth inc, The Tank Theater, Queens Players, The Creek Theater, & National Comedy Theater. Off stage: producer, collaborator, Artistic Dir. (Ratutu Collaborative) and Managing Dir. (Red Chair Theater- Atlanta.) She recently relocated to DF from NYC and finds herself in awe of the beauty (and space!) of The River Towns. She is excited to help River’s Edge Theater Company bring back in-person theater!

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Bryant Lewis (The Visitor)

Bryant Lewis was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and made name for himself with his thrilling, and thought provoking performance of Nathan Strange in the one man show Strange Fruit Redux written and directed by Afrika Brown at the Manhattan Rep theatre, and the Rugby Fringe Festival in North Carolina. Bryant has the dazzling, and vivid ability to transform into every character that he plays. From Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It to a homeless war vet in Heat of the Moment. Bryant trained with The Possibility Project, then studied theatre at Manhattanville College.

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Joanna Levine

Joanna is a singer/songwriter/ teacher living in Eastchester New York. Recently she composed the music for River’s Edge Theatre Co's production of "The Parking Lot", a collaboration that marked her return to theater since graduating from theater school in 2006. Check her out on Instagram -  @pinkwingmusicandbreathwork and @joannasnbananas

 

Jupiter Dune

Is a half eaten werewolf mixed with the happy tears of a husband murderess. Sometimes she goes to Target or does laundry to escape the doldrums of using magick and psychic powers to bring people to their best lives (no, really, for trues, check out Instagram @OuroborosHealingMagick). When not levitating over people’s auras, you can find him pretending to be a professional musician (Jupiterdune.com or @jupiter_dune) and singing songs of feeling at whomever will listen. An accomplished, lots of stuff, they hope you listen to your heart over your head, and have a glorious time tonight and always. For Dave and For Lynn. Who listened, and loved me most. 

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Meghan Covington (Writer/Director)
Meghan Covington is the co-founder and artistic director of River's Edge Theatre Company. Her most notable stage work has taken place regionally on the stages of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co, The Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre in Washington DC, and Firehouse Theatre, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, and Theatre Lab in Richmond, VA. She was also a company member for Synetic Theatre, where she spent 4+ years developing skills in classical pantomime technique, physical theatre, and dance. Most recently she played J in the River's Edge Theatre Co/Irvington Theater co-production of "The Parking Lot". Writing credits include the virtual plays "The Provider" and "The American Dream". Meghan obtained her BFA in Theatre Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Heather Campanelli (Sound Designer)

Heather Campanelli has been performing and composing music for as long as she can remember. She is the synth player/vocalist/sound technician for local band Push for Heat, and also a composer of electronic music. When she’s not fiddling with cables and buttons, she can be found moonlighting as a taxi driver for her kids or playing fetch with her dog, Alfie.
 

Sarah French (Lighting Designer/Stage Manager)

Sarah French is a lighting and scenic designer and artist, publishing professional, and tea aficionado originally from Portland, Maine. Their favorite design credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Saudi Scenes, and they have encompassed every possible backstage role at one time or another. When they aren't deep in a book or hanging from the catwalks, they can be found crafting, winning trivia nights, and running D&D campaigns.

The history behind the stories...

“Lavender Lady”, played by Jessica Carmen, is inspired by the spirit of a girl who allegedly lives in Irvington’s famous Armour-Stiner Octagon House. The young woman was said to have emigrated from France to New York in the early 20th century with her mother, only to fall in love with the young American man who lived next door. Carl Cramer, the well known writer who once lived in the Octagon House published a story describing the ghost’s origins as well as his own encounters with the spirit while living in the landmark residence.

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“The New Girl”, played by Mika Wurf, is inspired by the Ardsley Heights Country School for Girls. The school was established in Ardsley, NY in the 1930s. The book “Sunday” by Tina Louise (Tina played Ginger from Gilligan’s Island) was written as a memoir about her time staying at the school, revealing horrid memories about how the students were treated while staying at the school. River’s Edge Theatre Co co-founders Meghan and David Covington currently live in the old bunk house for the school with their three daughters, and they have reported unexplained cries late at night as well as objects being moved without assistance.

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“The Hermit”, played by Ed Herbstman, is based on accounts of the Hermit of Irvington named Johann Wilhelm Stolting who lived alone in a small shack on his land that is now the Irvington Woods. Historians say the hermit spoke several languages, bathed in the Saw Mill and Hudson Rivers, and slept in his own coffin made of local chestnut trees for the later part of his life. He was known in town for selling buttons and making friends with the local children. The Hermit died in 1888, and his gravestone can still be found in the Irvington Woods today by following the Hermit’s Grave (HG) trail markers.

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“The Captive”, played by Traci Redmond, takes place within the Weckquaesgeek tribe that once resided in Dobbs Ferry by Wickers Creek. This story was inspired by a historical account that claimed colonial women taken captive by Indigenous people often decided to stay with the tribe. Women were treated with more respect in in Indigenous circles compared to European settlements. Today you can visit Wickers Creek (which runs through the Mercy College Campus), and if you are lucky you may be able to find an old arrowhead in the sand. And as a spooky side note - the "Indian Chief" who cursed the Hudson Valley in Washington Irving's  "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was known to be a leader in the Weckquaesgeek tribe.

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“The Visitor”, played by Bryant Lewis, is inspired by the old Chauncey House that was suddenly abandoned in the woods in Dobbs Ferry in the mid-19th century. Rumor has it the Chauncey family simply vanished and never returned. The structure became known as “the haunted house” before it was torn down and replaced by The Children’s Village. This story also includes facts about Dudley’s Grove which was once a popular steamboat excursion destination in Hastings on Hudson. Dudley's was also know to be one of the first excursion companies to allow African American passengers aboard his steamboats. These excursions were appealing to middle class New Yorkers,  but were often more dangerous than expected due to lax safety, overcrowding, and unruly passengers. The song "Up at Dudley's Grove"  (recreated by our musicians Joanna Levine and Jupiter Dune) was written for this Hastings on Hudson hot spot.

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Special thanks to our 2021 donors and volunteers for making this and future productions possible:
Fred Catapano • Elena Dure • Fernanda Franco • Heather Harpham • Sweta Keswani • Gregg Moore • Noel Mulhern
Drew Paton • Traci Redmond • Jill Strauss • Dana Vogel • GaragePod• Sophie Vaughan-Johnson

In Memory of Meghan and David's Aunt Susan.

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