THE WICKED STAFF
Jonathan Josephson ::
Playwright/Producer/Director
Jonathan's original plays have been read and produced at The Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Remmy Bumppo Theatre Company (Chicago), Lightsout Theatre Company (Chicago), The Chance Theater (Anaheim), Pasadena Playhouse Balcony Theatre/Carrie Hamilton Theatre, The Syzygy Theatre Group, The Great Plains Theatre Conference (Omaha), N4th Art Center (Albuquerque), The Claire Donaldson 8 in 48 Festival (Sioux Falls ), Shelterbelt Theatre (Omaha), The Dana Point Theatre Company, Still Speaking Theatre, The SCV Space, and The Westchester Playhouse. His play The Giant and the Pixie was named a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and his short play Beluga Room is published by Original Works Publishing and was included in the "To the Sea" anthology which was published by the Northwest Playwrights Alliance. His short plays 27 Ways I Didn’t Say ‘Hi’ to Laurence Fishburne (2009), Tupperware (2011), and Of Love and Shampoo (2012) have been named as Finalists for National 10-minute Play Contest's Heideman Award at ATL.
Plays for Unbound Productions include Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Charles Dickens' The Chimes, Mark Twains’ A Ghost Story, and M. R. James' Count Magnus for Wicked Lit and Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party for History Lit. In addition to playwriting, Jonathan has also directed productions for Unbound and The Chance Theater; served as an associate producer at the The Black Dahlia Theatre; worked with the Literary offices of La Jolla Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, and Moving Arts; and is the Founding Producer of Our New Play Spectacular at the University of California, San Diego which had its 8th annual production in 2011.
Jonathan received his BA in Theatre: Playwriting from UCSD and a proud member of The Dramatists' Guild of America and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.
Paul Millet :: Playwright/Producer/Director
Paul currently serves as the Co-Artistic director of Unbound Productions alongside both Jonathan Josephson and Jeff G. Rack. As a director for Wicked Lit, Paul’s past credits include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Fall of the House of Usher (also playwright) for the 2009 production at Greystone Mansion; The Chimes for the 2010 production at Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery; and A Ghost Story for the 2011 limited engagement production at the Los Angeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel.
Other past credits include Jump/Cut (West Coast Premiere) at the Arena Stage for the Arts in Hollywood; Incorruptible and Southern Comforts (Los Angeles premiere) at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills; Driving Miss Daisy, The Curious Savage and The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the High Street Arts Center in Moorpark; Southern Comforts at the Indian Wells Theatre in Palm Desert; the two original one-acts, Alpha Best and Best Chance, Chance Best for Variations on a Theme: The Best at The Chance Theater in Anaheim; and the original play A Song for Me for the New Voices Playwrights Theatre in Santa Ana. This fall Paul is also co-directing the World Premiere of Albie Selznick’s one man show with magic, Smoke & Mirrors at Santa Monica Playhouse.
As a former member of the Eclectic Company Theatre (ECT) in North Hollywood, Paul directed the critically acclaimed productions of Don’t Dress for Dinner, Spike Heels, A Weekend Near Madison, the world premieres of Exmagare and The Unsinkable Bismark, as well as the late night serial Ambition. He also directed a production of Vaclav Havel’s The Memorandum at Vox Humana in Century City CA, which earned him notice from both the Czech General Consulate to the United States, and the Czech Ambassador to the United Nations. The world premiere of his play The Bang & The Clatter was produced at ECT in Spring 2003. Other notable Los Angeles credits include Landscape of the Body, Kiss of the Spider Woman, the world premiere of Delia’s Song as producer, and the late night variety show The Tony Morlando Show, as writer, producer and stage manager.
Currently Paul also serves as a consultant in Audience Development & Group Sales for both The Geffen Playhouse and Dance at the Music Center. Paul is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Theatre Communications Group, and LA Stage Alliance. In his spare time Paul runs, reads, cooks and freelances as a television editor.
Jeff G. Rack :: Playwright/Producer/Director
For the 2010 Wicked Lit production, Jeff adapted and directed H. P. Lovecraft’s. The Unnamable, which was staged in a cemetery at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery. In 2009 he adapted and directed Robert E. Howard’s classic terror tale, Pigeons From Hell, at the Greystone Mansion. Jeff also recently directed Molly Sweeney in Ventura, and the L.A. premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Theater 40, continuing his association with the Beverly Hills theater, having directed the west coast premiere of PEN, and The Mystery Plays there. He is also their resident designer. Jeff was thrilled to direct two of Rod Serling’s original Twilight Zone episodes for Theatre West in Hollywood to rave reviews from critics and audiences, including high praise from Carol Serling. Jeff was also a finalist in The 2008 Rod Serling Short Feature Scriptwriting Competition with his entry, “No Totos.”
Recently, Jeff traveled to Italy to do research for a screenplay he just completed for Prince Lorenzo De’ Medici, and has written two other feature screenplays. He has written adaptations of classic literature for books on tape, including Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He is also one of the creators, head writer, and artistic director of the Ghostwalk, a hugely popular annual Halloween event, now in it’s seventeenth year, that combines history with live theater in the streets of Santa Paula, CA. Jeff adapted and directed an EFX-filled production of Alice in Wonderland for the stage. He also wrote, produced and directed two Live 40’s era Radio Show Recreations with the Grand Guignol Players: Tales to Tremble By based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and The Shadow. Probably best known to Los Angeles theater patrons for his award-winning set designs, Jeff has designed and built over 150 productions from Santa Barbara to Edinburgh, Scotland, and recently received an L.A. Weekly Award for his work on Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage.
Naisa Wong :: Reading Series Director
Naisa Wong is a freelance director, producer and artistic consultant. She is thrilled to be joining the artistic team of WICKED LIT again this season. Formerly, Ms. Wong directed the 2009 Wicked Lit Reading Series. For the past ten years, Ms. Wong has worked professionally within television, theatre and film. She has worked as a production manager and associate director for productions with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Studios, CBS Radford, BCBG Max Azria Entertainment, Staples Center Arena Productions, CBS, ABC, NBC, The WB, UPN, and The CW. Her television credits include: Becker, Everybody Loves Raymond, Girlfriends, The Game, It’s All Relative and over a dozen pilots. Most recently, Ms. Wong has worked in professional, regional and independent theatre for the past four years. She was the Company Manager for the Pasadena Playhouse (2007-2008) as well as the Literary Manager and Producing Associate for Ebony Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles (2008-2010). As a Director, Ms. Wong has been an invited guest to Lincoln Center in New York and to Center Theater Group at the Kirk Douglas Theater. She has directed and produced many independent theatrical projects throughout Southern California. In 2009/2010 Ms. Wong had the privilege of producing her first documentary film project alongside Blair Underwood, Tommy Morgan Jr. (Intrepid) and Wren T. Brown.
Currently, Ms. Wong serves as the Resident Director and Artistic Advisor to Streetlamp Studio, a non-profit theatre based ensemble that serves the community of South and South Central LA. She recently completed her fifth highly successful collaboration with the group, an original play by Erin Gaw, Crooked Road. Ms. Wong was the recipient of a 2011 Center for Cultural Innovation ARC Grant for her directing and dramaturgical work on this project. For her work in theatre and television, Ms. Wong has been a guest lecturer, panelist and advisor for NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (graduate program), UC Davis, the Claremont Colleges (graduate program), USC, Calvin College, Occidental, APU, as well as the American Pavilion of Cannes Film Festival. She is currently in pre-production on two film projects that she will be directing in the fall of 2011. Naisa is a proud member of the Director’s Guild of America and an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).
For more information about
Wicked Lit, send an email to info@wickedlit.org
