WHO WE ARE

BRIEF HISTORY

In spring 2012, several of Vertigo’s founding members first met as students in Labyrinth Theater Company’s Spring Ensemble Workshop. Later that summer, additional members would join the group. Empowered by Labyrinth’s spirit of ensemble and encouragement to self-produce, Vertigo Theater Company was born. A company name was chosen. Meetings were held. Productions started taking shape. And the rest is history in the making. Today, Vertigo Theater Company is happy to boast a healthy, positive, extended community of creative artists.

OUR MISSION

Vertigo Theater Company engages directly with distinct communities in the collaborative process and strives to expose truth while unpacking the highlighted culture/s within the work.  We achieve this through varied practices including salons, workshops and full productions.

OUR TEAM

 
 

PIA SCALA-ZANKEL - Artistic Director

Pia Scala-Zankel is a founding member and Artistic Director of Vertigo Theater Company, which has been presenting programming since 2011. Pia was an Artist-in-Residence at SPACE on Ryder Farm, where she developed her first feature-length play, Street Children. A former actress (stage, TV, commercial) and dancer (NYC Ballet), Pia received a B.S. in Theater from Skidmore College.  She is an alumna of Labyrinth Theater Company’s Ensemble Workshop, a program that enabled her to tap into the city’s young and vibrant indie theater community and ultimately led her to create Vertigo. Pia is a Board Member of The Lilly Awards  (www.thelillyawards.org/) and SPACE on Ryder Farm (www.spaceonryderfarm.org/). She is also a former trustee of Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, where she played an instrumental role in launching its inaugural New Works Festival in 2014. Recently, She created Vertigo’s roundtable salon series, SHOPTALK, moderated by NYT columnist Ginia Bellafante and presented at BRIC, featuring such leading theater makers as Marsha Norman, Maria Goyanes, Will Davis, Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Adam Bock. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

 

Patti Anne Miller - Producing Director

Patti Anne Miller is a Freelance Producer and Arts Administrator, currently working as the Development Manager for The Playwrights Realm and the Artistic Producer for The 24 Hour Plays Nationals Program. She has worked with Portland Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Public Theatre and The 24 Hour Plays. Producing highlights include: César Alvarez’s The Universe is a Small Hat, Sam Alper’s LOVEPLAY / PLAYMONEY at the Club at La MaMa, Summer Valley Fair at NYMF, Ugly Rhino’s OKAY by Taylor Mac, Older Lady by Siler Buckley, and Ryan Haddad’s Hi, Are You Single? At the 2017 Under the Radar Festival at the Public. B.S. in Theatre Education from The University of Evansville.

 

libby jensen - Production Manager

Libby Jensen is a freelance Production Manager and Resident PM at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Recent credits include: Double Falsehood (Letter of Marque), Washer/Dryer (Ma-Yi), Hard Love (TACT), Consent (Roundabout), A Queen for a Day (St. Clement’s), Soldier X (Ma-Yi Theater Co.), Three Sisters (Harold Clurman Lab), Livin’ La Vida Imelda (Ma-Yi), Chairs and a Long Table (Ma-Yi), Just About Cured (HC Lab), The Cherry Orchard (Actors Studio), Cherry Smoke (The Working Theater), and Hellman v. McCarthy (Abingdon).

coral smith - Artistic associate

Coral Elizabeth Smith is a New York-based creative collaborator. She worked most notably with Vertigo Theater Company on the Living Room Series: Bareknuckle, which debuted in February 2015. She is also the co-creator and founder of Oh, Dear Beast!, a submission-based art journal dedicated to providing creative growth and development. She recently joined the Bitter Flint Collective as resident choreographer. In 2012, she earned a BFA at SCAD with a minor in dance, and shortly after worked with Taffety Punk Theater Coompany and Synetic Theater Company (DC). She attended Williamstown Theater Festival in 2014.

PRESS

 
 

PRODUCTION HISTORY

 
  • November 2016: World premiere of Street Children at New Ohio Theatre
  • October 2016: Shoptalk: Queering Theater, co-presentation at BRIC Arts | Media House
  • March 2016: Shoptalk: Women in Theater, co-presentation at BRIC Arts | Media House
  • November 2015: Private reading of Street Children at Ars Nova Loft
  • February-March 2015: The Living Room Series 2015: Bareknuckle at Gleason’s Gym, DUMBO
  • October 2014: Private workshop of Street Children with Director James Fauvell
  • October 2014: COLLAB at BAM Fisher Hillman Studio
  • August 2014: Artistic Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm, creative workshops with Padraic Lillis
  • May 2014: Private Reading of Street Children at Spaceworks, LIC
  • January-May 2014: Shoptalk
  • July 2013: COLLAB, performed at The Wild Project, NYC
  • December 2013: The Living Room Series at Poverty Row Loft in Chinatown, NYC
  • December 2012: Private Reading of Severance by Lindsay Joy at The Red Room, NYC