The People of Creative Stage
Madeline Bender
Madeline Bender (Founder and Director of Creative Stage) has had a rich career as international opera singer, arts educator, and producer. She has worked with some of the top stage directors, conductors and singers in the classical music profession, and has worked for over a decade in performing arts education.
Madeline has developed an array of innovative, multidisciplinary, child-focused performing arts curricula such as the Creative Stage Musical Theater Builders program, Filmmakers Workshop, Dancing Designers (with Clare Wasserman) and Puppet Theater Workshop (with Tiffany Iris).
Madeline is also the Founder and Director of Creative Stage Collective (CSC), a not for profit organization with a mission to bring the imaginative ideas of children to life through multi-generational collaboration. As writer, director and producer, Madeline has created numerous devised performances, including: Instrumental Storytellers at Symphony Space in Manhattan in collaboration with Concert Artists Guild (2020); the annual Creative Stage Spectacular! performances at Symphony Space (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023); Creative Stage Uptown at the Alvin Ailey Room at the Harry Belafonte Branch of the NYPL; and Dancing Storytellers for Carnegie Hall Fall Family Day (2018), and Musical Madlibs in Auckland, New Zealand with the renown NZTrio (2021). She is also the directer and producer of the annual CSC Summer Shebang!performances (2021, 2022, 2023). Madeline specializes in devising original work with multi-generational, multidisciplinary groups.
A passionate supporter for children's education, Madeline was the Founder and General Director of Voices of Hope. Voices of Hope, an opera gala event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, raised over a quarter of a million dollars to provide life changing education to severely underprivileged children around the globe.
As a performer, Madeline has been praised by the New York Times, for her "dramatic stage presence", "voluptuous soprano" and "theatrical flair”. Her extensive performing career has spanned nearly 15 years, and saw her in leading roles on many of the world's most important operatic stages. She has worked with notable opera directors such as Sir Colin Graham, Sir Peter Hall, Robert Wilson, David McVicar, Paul Curran, John Copley, and the late Sir Jonathan Miller, to name just a few. Career highlights include performances as Euridice in Orphee’ e Euridice at the Le Theatre du Chatelet in Paris with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting; Helene in A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Monnaie, the Royal Opera House in Brussels, as well as with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Konstanza in Mozart's Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail with the Baden Baden and Aix en Provence festivals; Violetta in La Traviata with Santa Fe Opera, as well as performances as soprano soloist for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the New York Philharmonic, and Handel's Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis.
Madeline received her Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She lives in NYC with her husband, operatic bass Paul Whelan, and their fifteen-year-old son.
ELLA Smith
Born and raised in the Twin Cities, Ella moved to NYC to study drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Ella Smith studied at the Stella Adler Studio and, in her junior year, was selected to attend the Shakespeare program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In addition to her classical training, Ella studied improv and sketch at the Upright Citizens Brigade where she fell in love with comedy.
Ella wrote, starred in, and produced a short comedic film titled “Period.” and wrote an 8 part mockumentary web series about non-union-regional-summer-stock-low-budget theater called “This is B.S.” which she also acted in and produced. The series is currently in post-production.
Her production company ‘Funny Girl Productions’ is currently in its second year and launching a children’s branch titled ‘Funny Kid Productions’. Ella is also an active member of the sketch comedy group Stupid Hot and when not acting, finds great joy teaching acting classes at Rikers Island Correctional Facility. Ella can be a local hire in NYC, Minneapolis, and Toronto and has dual American and Canadian citizenship.
TIFFANY IRIS
Tiffany Iris received training from Alan Langdon at Circle in the Square Theatre School, with theatrical projects ranging from straight plays to short films. Also a singer, Tiffany played the role of Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors for which she was nominated for an Irene Ryan acting scholarship. She recently performed in Riddles of the Trilobites at the New Victory Theater, and is currently part of the Halloween The Wildlife Witches Super Scary Halloween Show at the Bronx Zoo. Tiffany is also a regular performer with the Creative Stage Collective.
As a proud Latina, proving to the world that you can create beautiful, meaningful and fun content without having to be stereotyped, drives Tiffany to continue in this unpredictable yet rewarding career path.
DANIEL OAKES
Daniel Oakes is a professional actor, dancer, and singer based in New York City. A recent graduate from Swarthmore College, Daniel has been in many dramatic and comedic theatrical roles, including Betrayal by Harold Pinter, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, and The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. He is also experienced in film work, having participated in multiple short films including Transference and Call Time, both directed by Elpiniki Tsapatsaris, and Float On, directed by Molly O'Sullivan. Daniel most recently appeared in Summer Shebang and Creative Stage Spectacular at Symphony Space with Creative Stage Collective. You can learn more about Daniel Oakes at danieloakes.org
Joel Oramas
Joel Oramas (Comedy Improv and Musical Theater Builders, Lead Teacher) Joel is an enthusiastic performer and teaching artist, with credits including work in Romeo and Juliet (Burning Coal Theater), The Rape of Lucrece (NY Shakespeare Exchange), The Taming of the Shrew (Connecticut Free Shakespeare), to musical theater performances in shows such as Pippin and Man of La Mancha (Jean’s Playhouse), and Avenue Q (Hippodrome Theater). He has also appeared in the London tour of the critically acclaimed work, Prisoner’s Dilemma. As a teacher, Joel has taught young people through the Orlando Shakespeare Festival (Acting/Education Intern), Children’s Stage Adventures (Actor/Educator), and the James Franco Acting and Film School (Voice and Speech Instructor), and during his time as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Florida, where he earned his MFA. Joel continues his work with young people through Curated Care, developing activities that help children develop physically and mentally. Joel is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University, BA and University of Florida, MFA.
Marissa Ryan
Marrisa Ryan (Creator and Lead-teacher, Comedy Improv) is a veteran performer of both stage and screen. Ryan made her screen debut in the 1983 film Without a Trace. From 1989 to 1993, she starred as Elizabeth Cooper-MacGillis in the NBC sitcom Major Dad opposite Gerald McRaney. She later went to star in the Independent films Love Always, Slaves to the Underground, Taylor's Return, and With or Without You. In 1998, Ryan joined the cast of Fox police drama series, New York Undercover as Det. Nell Delaney, during the show's fourth and final season. He guest-star credits include appearances on The Practice, Sex and the City, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order. Ryan co-starred as Abby Bernstein in the ensemble cast satirical comedy film Wet Hot American Summer. She reprised her role in the Netflix prequel series, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp in 2015. She has also appeared in films Don's Plum (2001), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and Brooklyn Lobster (2005). Ryan made her directorial debut with the independent short film Three Women of Pain, which she also co-wrote.
Ty Norris
Ty Norris is originally from Yorktown, Virginia and is a graduate of Christopher Newport University with a BA in Musical Theater. He moved to New York to pursue acting. A regular CSC artist, Ty has performed in the 2023 Summer Shebang and the 2024 Creative Stage Spectacular. He also recently performed in the Off-Broadway show, All Because of Infidelity, with Hanging Cow Productions. Also a talented teaching artist, Ty has directed and taught acting classes to kids ages 10-15 for the past 4 years.
GERRY VEGA
Gerry Vega (Musical Theater Builders, Lead Teacher) is a NYC based Singer, Actor, Writer who has most recently self-produced two of his own solo-cabarets: Growing Up? and Pennies From Heaven-- performed at The Duplex Cabaret Theater and Feintstein’s/54 Below.
Gerry has recently partaken in some exciting workshops and readings: Steadfast Tin Soldier (dir: J. Quinton Johnson), ‘Twas The Night (dir: Ted O’Gorman), and, most recently, Actor Therapy sings Spring Awakening at Feintstein’s/54 Below (Moritz/Ensemble)-- to name a few.
He joined Actors’ Equity Association in 2014, and is an active participant of Lindsay Mendez and Ryan Scott Oliver’s Actor Therapy community, where he has coached with Lindsay, Ryan, and other industry professionals, like Kirsten Wyatt, Stephen Sposito, Peter Duchan. He proudly writes for the Actor Therapy community blog, we less #basic.
Gerry plans to spend the next few months manifesting magic over his self-created pilot, Life of [a] Manny. Read more about Gerry HERE.
Madeleine Witmer
Madeleine Witmer is a singer, actor, dancer and songwriter from Broadway, Virginia. She graduated with a degree in Musical Theatre and Dance from Christopher Newport University, and then went on to tour multiple productions, including children’s theatre, with Virginia Repertory Theatre. She spent the last two summers at The Ferguson Center for the Arts as part of the company of the “New Musicals Lab,” workshopping multiple productions, as well as the world premiere of Drew Gasparini’s We Aren’t Kids Anymore. Since moving to the city, you may have caught her singing at The Green Room 42, Feinstein’s/54 Below, or as a featured songwriter in Gasparini’s “New Voices” series—which you can find on YouTube along with more of Mads’s original music.
Madeleine is a regular performer with the Creative Stage Collective.
Julian Green
Julian Green has performed on stages from San Francisco to New York with credits ranging from Shakespeare to Improv. Originally from California, Julian has performed with the California Shakespeare Company, and trained with the American Conservatory Theater. In New York, Julian has trained and performed with the People’s Improv Theater since 2022.
PAYTON GEORGIANA
Payton Georgiana in addition to her work with Creative Stage as a teaching artist starting in the Fall of 2024, Payton Georgiana is an actor and writer, located in Brooklyn, NY. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She was nominated for an Irene Ryan award for her role of #7 in The Wolves, and was announced the winner of best classical performance in KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival). As an actress, Payton Georgiana recently appeared on Law and Order: SVU. Furthermore, she made her Off Broadway debut in the leading role of Barbra Payton in Ode to The Wasp Woman, performed at The Actors Temple. She was the lead in an episode entitled “Mrs. Todd's Long Cut,'' part of the Dark Echoes Horror Series for Valencias Motion Pictures. She is signed with FORWARD Talent in Atlanta, Georgia and managed by Dream Maker Talent in NYC. Instagram: @Paytongeorgiana66