Author: Lazarus Simmons

Charity Wilder (she/her) is from Paterson, New Jersey. She is a proud Jersey girl who is ready to take on the world. At a young age, Charity discovered she wanted to be on stage after seeing kids flying in Mary Poppins. She knew was ready to soar just like them. She spends most of her time listening to jazz, painting, and dancing. Since being at Mason Gross, she has fallen in love with Movement based theatre. She’s excited to combine her movement-based training and her love of acting in shows in the future. She is grateful for her amazing family that has supported her the entire way. She can’t wait to see where this journey takes her. Her Rutgers Theatre company credits include Toshi in Mudrow, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Verges in Much Ado About Nothing, Estrella in Life is a Dream, Student in Angela Davis School for Girl with Big Eyes, Ntozake Shange/Anonymous Boy 2 in Fires in the Mirror and Ensemble in Saudade.

James Gillins (he/him) was a 10 pound baby born in Santa Monica, California. Born and raised in the valley in the year 1999, art was always incorporated into his well-rounded schedule of extracurriculars and fostered his love for creative expression. James knew his path led towards the arts in high school which meant leaving his small school and auditioning for Valencia High’s vocal jazz ensemble as well as their choral program. James received news of his acceptance into the vocal jazz program the same day he suffered a major baseball accident causing the loss of his 4 front teeth, but by the end of James’ senior year, he was offered a presidential scholarship to study jazz vocal performance at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. Valencia High is also where James took a single year of theater 3, catching a bug which festered for two years until, after much internal and external debate on personal artistry and assisted by the space given due to a global pandemic, James decided to take the leap of faith and begin a new training program in acting here at Rutgers. James feels immensely satisfied with his decision. He is excited to be in more and more rooms with people who share his passion for the work, and plans to further his artistic growth through work at UCB as well as motion capture programs. Rutgers Company Theatre credits include:

Benedick – Much Ado About Nothing

Lady Capulet – Romeo & Juliet

Clotaldo – Life is a Dream

Chorus – Orlando

James would also like to thank the maxillofacial surgeon team of Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Maranon for his Hollywood whites* 

Jasper Newell is born and raised in the East Village in New York City. He is a man of many faces and characters. There are three loves in his life that drive him: Acting, family, and basketball. He started his professional acting career as a little boy and his love for the performing arts has never wavered. It has taken him around the world and has introduced him to wonderful people. Since his career as a child actor, he has cultivated a passion for directing, screenwriting, and performance art. He draws inspiration from people such as Jack Black, Joel Edgerton, Romeo Castellucci, and Kanye West (to name a few). He has no plans of stopping or slowing down. Now that he has graduated with a theater degree from Rutgers University, he is beyond excited to see where the next chapter of his artistic career will take him.

He is thankful for every moment and every ounce of support he has ever received.

Professional credit highlights include: We Need To Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay), Einstein on The Beach World Tour (dir. Robert Wilson), Samara (Sarah Benson/SoHo Rep) and Before Your Very Eyes (Gob Squad/ Public Theater).

Rutgers credit highlights include: in a word (Guy), Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato), R + J (Paris), Life is A Dream (Basilio).

Jacynth Apora (she/her/they/them) is from Englishtown, New Jersey. She is a proud Asian-American. She is a Filipina and is Chinese. She aspires to learn the languages, live in the Philippines, visit China, and make Philippine and Chinese art. When she was four years old, she watched Philippine teleseryes and then had one woman shows to recreate them in her parents’ bedroom, playing every character, because her little brother wasn’t born yet to play with. Jacynth is also excited to further her career in music and writing, dabble in other forms of art, and build a stronger online presence. Her favorite roles include being Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing on the Shakespeare’s Globe through the Rutgers MGSA’s program in London, and being Benvolio in R+J at Rutgers MGSA. What makes them happiest is making people feel loved and bigger than themselves, which is why they love to endeavor in all kinds of art. They root their passion for acting and the arts in the way it all makes them feel at home and in the way people receiving their art can feel less alone and find a home in it too. 

Abby Sanchez (she/her) is a Filipina-American actress native to New Jersey. Growing up in Parsippany she spent countless hours of her childhood in constant creative states whether it be singing and dancing, DIY crafting, or bathing in the light of local performance spaces. Her love for acting was found in her hometown school auditoriums where she discovered the power of community building through performance. Outside of school her passion is traveling. She finds that adventure and constant exploration helps to fuel the fire of her life and her work. Her work in Holy Week (Victoria) and In a Word (Man) have gifted her the chance to play the unexpected heartbreaker, which helps her pave the path to subverting the expectations for Asian American women in all spaces. In addition to acting, she also adores writing, and plans to develop her own works to share more about the Filipina American experience.

Austin Jackson (he/him) grew up all over the place. He moved every few years as a child of a military family, but he went to high school in Calvert County Maryland. His love of writing stories, making Lego stop-motion videos, and filming Nerf war films clued him into his love for storytelling and performance from an early age, but it wasn’t until he played Scar in The Lion King for his eighth-grade musical where his passion for theater truly took off. When he’s not acting Austin spends most of his time cooking in restaurants and at home (He’ll make you a killer fried rice if you ask). He also loves being outside and spends a lot of time hiking, backpacking, and kayaking. He dreams of learning to surf and hiking the entire Appalachian trail. Some of his Rutgers Theater Company credits include: Miles in She Kills Monsters, Dromio of Ephesus in Comedy of Errors, and Truffaldino in The Little Green Birdie. He is a lover of Shakespeare, improv, and all types of weird and experimental theater.

Eileen Han (she/they) is a first-generation Chinese immigrant from Langfang, Hebei. At 14 and on her own, she left the home that bore and raised her in order to bear and raise herself all over again. This experience drove her to seek shelter in acting, where she gained comfort and confidence to channel different characters through her own body. With a heart full of gratitude, Eileen is eager and unafraid to tell stories from her side of the world. Recently, she has been working on an English translation of Taiwanese writer Lin Yihan’s novel, Fang Si-Hci’s First Love Paradise, in the hope of adapting it into a stage play. While working on this project, Eileen is inspired and motivated to grow into someone, in the writer’s words, “who has a better imagination of others’ sufferings.” Her Rutgers Theater Company credits include: Ginny in Smart People, Ninetta in The Little Green Birdie, Witch/Seyton in Macbeth.

Gracie Poore (she/her) is originally from the small town of Williamston, South Carolina. The closest theater was an hour away so Gracie’s first introduction to theater was her brother’s puppet shows in the living room. Which were spectacular! These small theatrical moments have always been special to Gracie, and she hopes to bring the warmth and love she felt during these moments to all of her work. When she has the time, she spends it doing crafts such as crochet, embroidery, and sewing. When she is not doing crafts, she enjoys swaddling herself with books and tea as well as going on hikes and learning what she can from nature. Some of Gracie’s favorite roles at Mason Gross have been Fiona in In A Word, Macduff in Macbeth, and Stella in Heavenly Fools. She is proud to be in the class of 2024 and would like to thank her company and teachers for making it one of the best three and a half years she could have had.

Eden Jing Rollé hails from Chinatown, New York City, born to a Chinese-American public school math teacher and a Black theater arts teacher. As a nonbinary Blasian, Eden Jing has always existed at numerous intersections. They were empowered to show up in the fullness of their identities by their earliest mentors – individuals dedicated to the accessibility of community-centered art for young people.

At age 8, Eden Jing joined the theater program at their elementary school and later, began dancing with Jacques d’Amboise’s National Dance Institute and singing with community choruses. They enrolled at the Professional Performing Arts High School as a Musical Theater major, discovering that people create culture, culture changes behavior, and behavior changes policy; thus, artists must reflect the times. 

Eden attended Mason Gross School of the Arts, pursuing their passion of experiencing other countries and encountering new works. An ever-evolving awareness of self and the systemic realities that shape their city and country fuels Eden Jing participation in mutual aid efforts throughout the five boroughs. They tell intersectional stories that illuminate the connectivity of Black, Brown + Asian communities, as well as investigate the patriarchal illusions that shackle us and suppress our capacity for imagination.

Henry Isaacs (he/they) is a born and raised Brooklynite from New York City. Before he discovered his love for acting, he played upright and electric bass in several orchestras and bands around the city. But while attending an after-school program called Creative Arts Studio, Henry discovered an undying passion for acting. After studying there for three years doing primarily improvisation and mask work, Henry began attending Midtown’s Professional Performing Arts High School, where he continued to study acting. There, he expanded his repertoire with Clown and Commedia Dell’Arte. Since coming to Rutgers University, Henry has been increasingly interested in combining his techniques of physical comedy with emotional nuance and micro-expressions. Some of his Rutgers credits include: Max in Masculinity Max, Witch 1in Macbeth, and Pantalone in The Little Green Birdie.