AHA! Moment – Live on Zoom

SUSAN BASKIN (Dramaturg) wrote the Academy Award winning Film, Violet, and has written extensively for television and film. Her essays have been published in The Los Angeles Times Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine. Susan has written a number of pieces for JWT including “I, Citizen,” which was commissioned by Jewish Women’s Theatre. She is currently at work on a novel.

ALI BLAKE (Songwriter) is a soulful pop singer and songwriter from Chicago. Passionate about healing the world and connecting to her listeners through truth and vulnerability, Ali weaves an eclectic variety of sounds into her songs. Influenced by a wide range of artists from Etta James to Dolly Parton, her music is imbued with an ever-evolving, soulful nature. After performing in New York City, Atlanta, and Oakland, she moved to LA and has recently finished her newest album, Blood, with renowned producer and bassist John Avila and producer Anton Söder. She will go on tour performing Blood in its entirety once safety has been reestablished after the pandemic fades.

SUZANNE CANE (Writer) has lived in Mexico City for more than 54 years. She was born in Brooklyn before it became trendy and earned her BA and MA in English at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. After teaching in the New York school system for four years, she went to Mexico City for a week, met her husband, and had four children. The marriage ended, but she stayed in Mexico, dealing with the language, an unfamiliar society, and earthquakes, since Mexico City had become her home. She spent many years teaching social studies at the American School Foundation while writing articles on Mexican culture and eventually a novel, Gringa, which deals with an American woman who takes on the challenges of life in Mexico. You can find it at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AN99CQ6.

JUDY CARTER (Writer/Actor) Judy grew up with the perfect career for launching a comedy career: childhood speech impediment, alcoholic father, disabled sister and depression. She had to be funny… or die. At 8 years old, she became a young entrepreneur doing magic shows for birthday parties. She went on to became the first woman to perform at the Magic Castle in Hollywood and became a stand-up comic appearing on over 100 TV shows. Reinventing herself as an author, she was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and keynoted for hundreds of corporations on the power of humor to heal.  She doesn’t like to brag, but she did write the Bible. No joke, she’s the author of The Comedy Bible (Simon & Schuster), The Message of You: Turn Your Life Story into a Money-Making Speaking Career (St. Martin’s Press), and The NEW Comedy Bible, which has been translated into 6 languages.

LISA CIRINCIONE (Director/Actor) is a very proud Abby Freeman Artist-in-Residence with The Braid, both acting and directing with the company.   Lisa has performed in numerous productions with The Braid, including Saffron and Rosewater and Uncuffed.  You can most recently see her on the small screen in the FOX TV show, 9-1-1, Spectrum’s L.A.’s Finest and on Direct TV in the short film Porcupine, which she both stars in and produced.  Lisa received LA WEEKLY and LA Drama Critic’s Circle nominations for playing the role of Catherine in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and received her BFA in acting from USC.  Most important role to date – becoming mama to daughter Sophia Rosa Giovanna.

ANDREW FROMER (Assistant Artistic Director) a Los Angeles native, grew up as an active member in the Jewish community through Stephen Wise Temple. He attended Windward School in Mar Vista, where his career as an actor began in the school plays and musicals. After completing his BFA in theater at
UC Santa Barbara and an exciting year of living in Israel, Andrew returned to LA for acting and producing. His TV credits include Never Have I Ever (Netflix) and Anger Management (FX); feature film credits include Highway to Havasu (Billy/Producer) and The Sweet Life (Mike/Assistant to Production). Andrew also edits and directs and is excited to be coordinating this year’s iteration of NEXT @ The Braid, JWT’s Emerging Artists Fellowship. Find out more info at www.jewishwomenstheatre.org/next. Andrew also serves as Teen Engagement Coordinator and Communications Manager for congregation Or Ami in Calabasas.

is passionate about helping tell impactful and entertaining stories and has been exploring her craft in Los Angeles for several years. She has appeared in ABC’s Trophy Wife and has often performed with the LA-based theatre company Scribe Stages. This is Brianna’s first time working with The Braid, and she’s delighted to partake in conveying the pieces of such expressive writers. When she isn’t performing, Brianna loves exploring national parks, as well as expanding her painting and digital art skills.

AMANDA HOROWITZ (Stage Manager) wants to spend her life organizing and creating new theater. She recently graduated with bachelor’s degrees in theater and math from the University of Alabama, where she stage managed and assistant stage managed eight shows in the theater department. She most recently directed a thirty-minute play as part of a new-works play festival in North Hollywood. She hopes someday to be able to run her own theater company dedicated to producing emerging theater and providing other young adults with their first paid opportunities in the arts. She is thankful
to The Braid for providing her first step toward her professional career. 

VICKI JUDITZ (Writer/Actor) has performed her original stories at theaters and festivals across the country, including The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.  A veteran of many Braid salons, Vicki had the privilege of presenting her solo show, Sacred Resistance, at the Braid.  Her story Swing Dancing aired on The Moth Radio Hour and Boca was featured on KCRW’s UnFictional.

DAVID MASELLO (Writer) is a widely-published essayist, feature writer, poet, and playwright. A longtime magazine editor and writer, having held senior editorial positions at Town & Country, Art & Antiques, Travel & Leisure, and other periodicals, he is currently executive editor of Milieu, a magazine about design. Prior to his magazine work, he was a nonfiction editor at Simon and Schuster and has authored two books about architecture and art. His essays and features have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including the New York Times and Best American Essays. His plays have been produced by Chelsea Repertory, AND Theatre Company, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, and the National Arts Club. He is an active participant in Read650.org, a live-essay reading series. He teaches a course at Sarah Lawrence College on the subject of writing about art. Although Manhattan is where he lives and works, he comes from Evanston, Illinois, which will always feel like home.

DION MUCCIACITO (Actor) The Cherry Orchard (Lake Lucille Chekhov Project), TheTale, (Theater for a New Audience), Romeo and Juliet (Classic Stage Company), Golden Boy (Lincoln Center), Napoli! (American Conservatory Theatre), Apple Cove (The Woman’s Project), The House of the Spirits (The Denver Center), The Sins of Sor Juana (The Goodman), Age of Iron (Classic Stage Company), Waiting for Lefty (Hero Theatre Company). Film and TV: Brawl in Cell Block 99, Black Site Delta, The Player, Day 39, Law and Order. Graduate of The Juilliard School. 

RABBI TARLAN RABIZADEH (Writer) was born and raised in Los Angeles’ Jewish Persian community. She earned a BA from Boston University, where she studied public policy, education, and Hebrew, and she received her MA in Jewish education from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at Hebrew Union College-JIR in LA. During her time pursuing rabbinic ordination at HUC’s New York campus, she worked at Congregation Emanu-El in New York City and served as student rabbi of small-town congregations in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. She received her second MA in Hebrew literature and was ordained at HUC upon completing her thesis, the trilingual Progressive Persian Haggadah. Rabbi Rabizadeh joins us after serving as the Jewish Emergent Network Fellow at The Kitchen in San Francisco, where she taught courses on topics such as Torah, Talmud, and prayer. She currently teaches at Milken Community High School in Los Angeles, as a Talmud and Torah teacher.

SUZI WEISS-FISCHMANN  (Writer) Known worldwide as the “First Lady of Nails,” OPI Co-Founder Suzi Weiss-Fischmann has created thousands of iconic OPI shades, including You Don’t Know Jacques!, Bubble Bath, and I’m Not Really a Waitress. An industry trailblazer, Suzi ignited the dark nail revolution with Lincoln Park After Dark, was the first to add real diamond dust to nail lacquer, and mainstreamed nail art with Shatter by OPI. Suzi pioneered the development of OPI partnerships, making OPI the first nail-care brand to collaborate with Hollywood’s top films and celebrities, as well as with iconic companies including Coca-Cola, DELL, and Ford Mustang. In her current role as Brand Ambassador, Suzi serves as the voice of OPI. In 2019, her autobiography, titled I’m Not Really a Waitress: How One Woman Took Over the Beauty Industry One Color at a Time, was published. For more information, visit www.1stladyofcolors.com.