TEAM

Creators // Nico Krell & Jacob Ashworth
Director // Nico Krell
Music Arranger & Director // Dan Schlosberg
Co-writer // Garrett Bell
Costume Designer // David Quinn
Choreographer // Ben Hartley
Makeup Designer // Maiko Ando
Lighting Designer // Carolina Ortiz
Props Supervisor // Corinne Gologursky
Projection Designer // Alex Cordero
Sound Design // Max Feldman
Production Stage Manager // Kevin Jinghong Zhu
Associate Producer // Thomas Michael Culhane
Assistant Stage Manager // Olivia Kurima
Assistant Makeup // Erin Ormsby
Creative Associate // John Taylor Ward
Voiceover // Peregrine Teng Heard
Assistant Costume Design & Wardrobe // Azael Acosta
Stichers // Ryan Hanson, Katy Freeman, Sophie Millar, Jazmine Curry, Shannon Koger

A sneak peek of SLAYLEM:

PACKAGES & PROMOS

SIT UP CLOSE WITH THE CHOSEN FEW!
Experience our VIP cabaret seats up close! Come alone or grab a table! A full table has 4 seats at $150 per seat, with $75 of each seat supporting our 2024-2025 Season (tax deductible). For our GALA PERFORMANCE on October 10th, seats are $400 each, with $250 supporting the season (tax deductible). Enjoy endless libations served by dedicated waiters as we shower you in luxury, legs, and lip-syncing.

PAY WHAT YOU WANT:
We're offering a Pay What You Want program for every show! Tickets start at $10, but they’re limited and will sell out quickly. Each order can include a maximum of FORTY tickets. If you’re coming with a group, please arrive early—there will be a fun randomized seating arrangement game. (For reference, an average full-price ticket is $75.)

STUDENT DISCOUNTS:
Students with a valid ID may purchase tickets to any performance for only $20! Simply click “Student WITH VALID ID” and checkout.

MEET THE CAST

Curtis Bannister

Tenor

Curtis Bannister, a 2021 recipient of the Actors Equity Foundation Roger Sturtevant Award and Drama League Award nominee for "Fidelio," has garnered acclaim for his performances across theater, film, and opera. Described by TimeOut Magazine as “radiating with slowly simmering energy” and hailed as a “quiet revelation” by the L.A. Times, Bannister’s talent shines on every stage.

In 2024, Curtis made a remarkable debut at Asolo Repertory Theatre, earning praise for his roles as Reverend Jeremiah Brown in Inherit the Wind, George in Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Intimate Apparel, and Juror #8 in the world premiere of the musical adaptation of 12 Angry Men. He has performed with prestigious institutions like The Kennedy Center, the National Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Bannister’s collaborations include performances with Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Heather Headley, and various opera companies.

Jamilyn Manning-White

Soprano

Jamilyn Manning-White is in high demand on the concert, opera, and theatre stage.  As a core performer with Heartbeat Opera, she has captivated audiences with her stunning artistry and energetic portrayals.  Recently, Ms. Manning-White joined Opera Philadelphia’s O18 Festival, covering Patricia Racette in La Voix Humaine as well as a return to Hartford Symphony Orchestra for Vaughn Williams’s Dona nobis pacem and a debut with Salt Marsh Opera, singing Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute.  Upcoming engagements include a return to the Bangor Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and a return to the Hartford Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven 9. An alumnus of the prestigious Yale School of Music, Ms. Manning-White is a two time Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

JOHN TAYLOR WARD

Bass

John Taylor Ward performs with “stylish abandon” (The New Yorker), “intense clarity and color” (New York Times), “finely calibrated precision and heartrending expressivity” (Washington Post). A native of Boone, North Carolina, Taylor grew up in a musical family – mostly bluegrass and Broadway. Before pursuing opera and early music studies at the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, he spent his early years living a double life as both a sought-after musical theater actor and an Anglican boy treble. Taylor’s “lithe, louche, and admirably game” approach to the repertoire (Opera News) has yielded recent acclaimed debuts at Spoleto USA in the premier of Unholy Wars; Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Teatro, starring in Iannis Xenakis’ Oresteia; and Vienna’s Musikverein as Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Notable DVD releases include the role of Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan, Proteo in Orfeo Chaman with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, and an upcoming documentary series on the life and works of Claudio Monteverdi with the Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Taylor is the founding artistic director of the Lakes Area Music Festival of Minnesota, a laureate of the Jardin des voix, and a member of the two-time Grammy winning ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

ANGELA YAM

Soprano

Angela Yam, hailed as “radiant” by the Boston Globe, returns to Boston Lyric Opera as an Emerging Artist for the 2024-25 season, performing the role of Ismene in Mozart’s Mitridate. Upcoming projects include the world premiere of The Pigeon Keeper by David Hanlon & Stephanie Fleischmann with Opera Parallèle, New Year’s Celebration with Boston Baroque, and a return to the title role of Cavalli’s La Calisto (Opera Memphis). 

Recent credits include the title role of Cavalli’s La Calisto (Opera Memphis), Josephine Young understudy in Huang Ruo & David Henry Hwang’s An American Soldier (PAC NYC), Johanna in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Chautauqua Opera, Opera Saratoga) and Diana in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride (Boston Baroque), in which she was praised for her “gleaming clarity” and “fitting rococo brilliance.”

Yam has premiered several operas, including Kenji Oh & Kelly Rourke’s The Emissary (Opera Parallèle) as an “adorable and vocally excellent” Mumei, Ellis Ludwig-Leone & Karen Russell’s The Night Falls as Siren 1, and Jones & Tinley’s ICELAND as the Bird, in which Yam was described as “stellar…a Puccini-esque soprano with incredible highs.” 

Yam won the New York City District in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and her self-directed Visual Recital was awarded 3rd place in the 2022 American Prize Competition.

RODOLFO GIRÓN

Countertenor

Rodolfo Girón is described as a “…moving performer with a lush and delicate timbre...“ and “an ethereal countertenor with a rare gift,” Mexican American countertenor Rodolfo Girón joined Beth Morrison Projects last season for the world premiere of Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea also starring Nathan Gunn and Measha Brueggergosman-Lee. He joined the New York Philharmonic for the premiere of their commission Keyframes for a Hippogriff by Olga Neuwirth and he performed the Brazilian Jazz solos in Golijov’s Oceana and the alto solo in Mozart’s Requiem with Musica Viva NY. He also made his début with Opera Montana as Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea, bringing the first Baroque opera to Montana.

Recently Rudy joined The Dallas Opera for Jonathan Dove’s Flight, covering John Holiday. Other recent highlights include singing Arsamene in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s production of Serse and the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Janeic Opera Company, where he was also the soloist in Vaughn Williams' Serenade to Music under the baton of Keith Lockhart. Rudy also joined Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist where he again covered John Holiday in the role of Refugee in Flight. Other roles include débuts as Melanto in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Ruggiero in Alcina, and El Alma in Juana.

Bernard Holcomb

Tenor

Bernard Holcomb, having "already made a name for himself in the world of opera" with his "delicate and flexible" voice, returned to The Metropolitan Opera last season for both X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and Fire Shut Up in My Bones. He also joined On Site Opera to sing the Curator in Song of the Nightingale and the Narrator in their Bach pastiche Coffee Cantata. Holcomb performed as Alfredo in La Traviata with Eugene Opera, workshopped the title role in The Pigeon Keeper with Santa Fe Opera, performed as Beadle Bamford in Pacific Symphony’s Sweeney Todd produced by UIA Presents, and joined Central City Opera as Henry Davis in Street Scene. He also made his network television debut on the 25th season of Law and Order: SVU. This season, he returns to the Met to sing the Fourth Jew in Salome and to Eugene Opera to sing the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto. He also joins Opera Parallele in the title role of The Pigeon Keeper.

Recently, Mr. Holcomb made his Metropolitan Opera début in Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s Champion, his house début at Opera Omaha in X: the Life and Times of Malcolm X, and he joined Central City Opera as Iago in Rossini’s Otello and On Site Opera as Harlekin in Der Kaiser von Atlantis.

Hans Tashjian

Bass

Hans Tashjian, a bass-baritone whose voice has been described as "rumbling and sumptuously lush" continues to expand his repertoire with esteemed opera companies throughout the US. In the 2023-2024 season Mr. Tashjian joined Opera Essentia as the title role in Handel’s Imeneo, Teatro Nuovo as Callistene in Donizetti’s Poliuto, Salt Marsh Opera as le Fauteuil and L’Arbre in L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Opera Essentia as Hercules in Handel’s Admeto. Recent highlights include his return to the Metropolitan Opera, covering Député Flamand 2 in Don Carlo, Pit Singer Bass in Hamlet, and debuting as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, as well as appearing as Méphistophélès in Faust with Opera Baltimore, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Teatro Nuovo, and Billy in the world premiere of The Snowy Day at Houston Grand Opera.

Tashjian's impressive credits include a wide range of roles, from the title role in Aleko and el Capitán in Florencia en el Amazonas to Enrico in Anna Bolena, Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Il trovatore, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Melchtal in Guillaume Tell, Banco in Macbeth, and Wurm in Luisa Miller.

MEET THE TEAM

NICO KRELL

Director

Nico Krell is an Uruguayan-born director raised across three continents. He creates theatrical adventures: plays, musicals, operas, performance art, immersive shows, and, once, a gastrotheatrical adaptation of Medea. Nico has been a Lecturer in Theater at Princeton University and was the recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize, Princeton's highest honor in the creative arts. He has directed projects at Lincoln Center, the wild project, Heartbeat Opera, The University of Toronto, Mercury Store, TheaterLab, Princeton University, and Princeton Summer Theater; he has supported work at Soho Rep., Opera America, and Berkshire Theatre Group.

Dan Schlosberg

Music Arranger & Director (Music Director, Heartbeat Opera)

See full bio on our staff page here.

JACOB ASHWORTH

Co-Creator (Artistic Director, Heartbeat Opera)

See full bio on our staff page here.

GARRETT BELL

Co-writer

Garrett Bell is a composer/lyricist/playwright working in New York City. His plays include REQUIEM, UNE COMEDIE FRANÇAISE, and the one woman show QUARANTINE. His musical material has been compiled into the irreverent song cycle HIPSTERS DRINKING COFFEE, and he provided book and lyrics for the musical THE BALLAD OF ELISA LAM. His writing has been featured by Z Publishing House and Rattle Poetry and he recently participated in the HBMG Foundation National Winter Playwriting Retreat. He and collaborator Jonathan W. Colby recently completed their musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, BY MOONLIGHT, and he is currently working on his next musical: THE LOST BOYS; a vignette style show that examines the generation of gay men who grew up without role models. Current participant of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

DAVID QUINN

Costume Designer

David Quinn is a fashion and costume designer working in a variety of mediums from theatre, dance, and film to burlesque and red carpets. Quinn’s theatre work has appeared in numerous traditional and non traditional venues across America and internationally. In 2017 his work on Jack was described as “jaw dropping” (Travelance) and “glorious“ (Time Out NY). In 2022 his costumes for Dick Rivington were hailed as “brilliantly inventive“ by the NY Times. Quinn has designed dance costumes in collaboration with NYC based choreographers and soloists including The Martha Graham Company, Merce Cunningham, and Stanley Love. Dance View Times said, ”Quinn is cutting and draping and colouring the most beautiful dance costumes to be found in New York.”

Quinn’s wide ranging group of collaborators has recently included artists such as the iconic drag queen The Lady Bunny. Music legend Debbie Harry - creating her mirrored shroud for Coachella. Many red carpet and press event looks for Bridget Everett (HBO - Somebody Somewhere). Also, several incredible pieces for performance artist Darrel Thorne. Quinn’s work has appeared in a variety of publications and has been immortalized in several books and films. Currently, you can see Quinn’s costumes for the show Hypnotique in its second year of performances at the McKittrick Hotel, NYC.

Instagram @quinndustry

BEN HARTLEY

Choreographer

Ben Hartley is a writer, director, choreographer, filmmaker & Broadway professional. He is the co-creator, book writer, & choreographer of A Second Chance, a new musical. He wrote, directed, & choreographed the multi-award-winning short films Free & Early Mourning,distributed by ShortsTV & Amazon Prime.

Ben recently choreographed Into the Woods & Carousel for The Royal Academy of Music, London. He directed & choreographed Let the Right One In for The Neighborhood Playhouse, NYC, alongside original musical revues, Pure Imagination, Stoop Songs, Another Hundred People & By the River. He served as Movement Director and/or Choreographer for twelve full-scale productions for "The Fame School" NYC. He choreographed Held Momentarily for NYMF, Gypsy in Houston, TX, Hairspray in Stamford, CT, & Ballet Central UK. Ben served as the Assistant Choreographer on the Broadway production of Enron.

He performed in Broadway & West End productions of The Little Mermaid, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Fiddler on the Roof, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Cinderella, & The Carman, Follies, Cats, & Fosse as well as regional productions of Hello Dolly, Pirates of Penzance, & The Most Happy Fella. He danced in the Met Opera Ballet, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and English National Ballet. 

Maiko Ando

Makeup Designer

Maiko Ando is a New York based makeup artist grew up in Japan and extensively working in theater, television, film and advertising industries. Her work has showcased in CBS, Paramount + and Smithsonian Channel.

Maiko continues to display her work in many mediums with aesthetics and creativity ranging from "no makeup" makeup and natural beauty looks to creative character effects makeup. Her creative makeup designs have also been featured in various Heartbeat Opera productions, music videos, actors' reels and independent films.  www.maikomakeup.com

CORINNE GOLOGURSKY

Props Supervisor

Corinne Gologursky is thrilled to be back with Heartbeat Opera for the magical Drag Extravaganza! They are a props artist with a passion for making the wildest dreams come to life on stage. Past Heartbeat productions include: Der Freischütz, Fidelio, Don Giovanni, Dragus Maximus, Hot Mama. Select Off-Broadway: Hamlet, As You Like It (Delacorte Theater); Suffs, cullud wattah (The Public Theater); Sandra (The Vineyard), The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (The Shed). Regional: Once (Bucks County Playhouse); Singin’ in the Rain, Beauty and the Beast, Saturday Night Fever (Maine State Music Theatre). 

Alex Cordero

Projection Designer

The Sperm Whale is a pod of artists and programmers known for their live projections and video installations. Founded in 2006, the group has performed at hundreds of events around the globe. They straddle the fine art and nightlife worlds with a colorful pop sensibility.

Max Feldman

Sound Director

Max Feldman is a musician, composer, and improviser who lives in Brooklyn. Previous sound design work includes the score to RUR, a multimedia exhibition at the APE Ltd. Gallery in Northampton, Massachusetts. He has also released six albums of experimental electronic music and performs musical improv comedy at the Magnet Theater. Learn more at maxfeldman.net. 

Kevin Jinghong Zhu

Production Stage Manager

Kevin Jinghong Zhu (he/him) is a New York-based stage manager. He is thrilled to make his Heartbeat debut with its annual drag extravaganza! Selected Off-Broadway credits: Between Two Knees (PAC NYC); Salesman Zhisi (Yangtze Rep); A Delicate Balance (Transport Group & NAATCO); Romeo and Juliet (NAATCO); Public Obscenities (Soho Rep & NAATCO); Asilomar (MTC); Jesa, and Bags (Ma-Yi); She He Me, Criminal Queerness Festival (National Queer Theater). Selected Regional credits: National Music Theater Conference (the O’Neill); Scrooge! (Arizona Theatre Company); Between Two Knees (Seattle Rep & McCarter); Dial M for Murder, and Kim’s Convenience (Westport Country Playhouse); Soft Power workshop in NYC (Signature DC); Today is My Birthday, A Raisin in the Sun, and El Huracán (Yale Rep); Dream Hou$e (Long Wharf); To The Moon and Back (Chester Theatre Company). MFA: Yale School of Drama. bit.ly/kevinjzhu

Olivia Kurima

Assistant Stage Manager

Olivia Kurima (She/Her) is a queer, Japanese-American Stage Manager from Houston, Texas. A recent graduate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she is excited to be back in NYC and working on her first production with Heartbeat. Select Credits Include: Mystere (Cirque Du Soleil), Mammelephant (Superhero Clubhouse), As You Like It (UNCSA), Lo frate 'nnamorato (AJ Fletcher Opera).

Curious about the location, want tips on what to wear, or just want the tea on the event? Check out our FAQs!

Made possible with support from Judson Memorial Church, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York & Gitano Island.