Getting my Masters at Harvard at age sixty-nine, I hope that I’m inspiring other women that there are no limits. There’s absolutely no limits except for those you place on yourself. I never actually wrote a screenplay and now all these Film Festivals think I’m such a great writer.. . There’s always a first time for everything. Why not me?
“If you want to reach people—REALLY reach them—you have to touch their hearts. Art is what does that. And my art is my writing.”
Pamela S. K. Glasner is a critically acclaimed published author of fiction and non-fiction, a filmmaker, a playwright, a social advocate. She is also a proud member of the Writer’s Guild of America, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, the Connecticut Historical Society and Grace Episcopal Church. Additionally, she is a Registered Reader at both the Royal Society of London and the British Library.
As the daughter of two senior citizens who were exploited and abused by a stranger who insinuated himself into their lives for the sole purpose of embezzling their life savings, Glasner producedLast Will and Embezzlement, her ground-breaking and award-winning documentary. Starring Hollywood’s icon, the late Mickey Rooney, the film explores the financial exploitation of the elderly. In Glasner’s frustrating and ultimately futile struggle to obtain justice for her parents, she learned how prevalent these crimes are and how safe from prosecution and conviction the perpetrators are. For that reason, Glasner lectures nationally on the topic, teaching people how to protect themselves and those they love and/or care for from the countless vultures who are always waiting in the wings.
Hollywood icon, the late Mickey Rooney, was an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He was awarded one Oscar (“In recognition of his 50 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances”) and was nominated for four others. He won several other awards including a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Working as a performer since he was a small child, Mickey had one of the longest careers of any actor, spanning almost 90 years. Before he passed away in April of 2014, he was the last surviving male star from1930s Hollywood.
On March 2, 2011 Mickey testified before the United States Congress when they were considering legislation meant to curb elder abuse. He told the members of the special Senate committee that he was financially exploited by a family member, though he refused to publicly name his abuser. Not long after, Mickey’s finances were permanently entrusted into the hands of a Conservator in order to protect what remained, and to attempt to recover the missing money, which was a considerable amount. Sadly, in the end, after a protracted legal battle, his perpetrators returned a tiny fraction of what they had stolen.
Glasner’s non-fiction book, Silver and Gold, the companion piece to Last Will, was written in honor of her deceased parents and released on what would have been her father’s 93rd birthday. She is also the bookwriter and co-composer/co-lyricist of Empty Rooms, a musical play which was endorsed by Joey Nederlander (of the world-famous Broadway producers). In his Detroit home he told her, “Your work is as good as anything I’ve ever heard on the strip.”
Her other advocacy work centers around Finding Emmaus, her historically and factually accurate novel which explores the treatment and mistreatment of the mentally ill over the course of about 350 years, and how society marginalizes and victimizes those deemed to be ‘different’ (aka ‘less than’).
Glasner earned her Bachelor’s Degree as a Dean’s List student from Eastern Connecticut State University and received her Masters in Creative Writing and Literature from Harvard University. She attributes her love of architecture and antique restoration—two aspects of her life which are woven into the fabric of Finding Emmaus—to her grandfather who, after emigrating to the US from Austria in the 1920’s, became an iron worker and joined the ranks of those who left their legacy in the form of New York City’s incomparable skyline. But her real hero, though gone more than forty years, is still her grandmother, whose strength, courage and unfailing faith taught her that “nothing and no one can keep you from your heart’s desire without your permission and your cooperation.”
Presently, Ms. Glasner resides in rural Connecticut where she continues working on several new projects and advocating for those who don’t always have a voice of their own.
Theatre is the one area, aside from religion, where people are presented with stories; they can hear them, they can see vicariously what can happen. They have a conversation with what’s happening with their own experience, and they actually can change . . .making a new commitment to advocacy and that is so beautiful.
Human rights and civil rights will be realized only when we fully hear the voices, ideas and creative concepts of womxn over 40, whose perspectives have long been marginalized and stifled. ~ Cindy Cooper
Cynthia L. Cooper (Cindy to most people) is an award-winning playwright, journalist, author and activist. She became a playwright to use the power of the stage to address topics and issues that were flattened and ignored by popular media. Her plays are united by a passion for socially relevant topics, stylized staging and a dramatic-comedic mix.
Her plays (15 full length, 35 short) include Silence Not, A Love Story and At the Train Station in Munich about a woman who resisted the rise of the Nazis; Heaven Scent about a gay couple that encounters prejudice when they seek to adopt; Stones of Tiananmen, about Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Lui Xiaobo, his artist-wife and the fight for freedom of speech, and Running on Glass and How She Played the Game about overlooked women in sports, and All Databases Are Incomplete about the ordinariness and invisibility of intimate partner violence
Stories of asylum seekers and asylum helpers — of the search for safety and the offer of sanctuary — are revealed in unfolding monologues inI Was A Stranger Too, sharing the hopes that can emerge from a single act of caring and concern.
A woman, propelled by the memory of her mother’s rescue from the Holocaust, is drawn to help asylum seekers in the U.S. As she attempts to navigate the asylum system, she encounters a rich mosaic of people who are fleeing persecution, and others determined to welcome them.Drawn from dozens of interviews with people in Minnesota and elsewhere, the play takes audience members beyond stereotypes to the power and capacity of the human spirit. I Was A Stranger Too tells the story of hope that can arise amid chaos, difficulty and trauma.
With a deep belief in the transformational power of theater to open hearts and minds, over 20 years ago, she founded ReproFreedomArts.org(formerly Words of Choice), which produces creative works about reproductive health, freedom, rights and justice, and has taken performances live to 20 states, livestreamed to tens-of-thousands of viewers, and does walking tours on reproductive freedom in New York City.
A two-time Jerome Fellow, Cindy’s plays have been seen in New York at Primary Stages, The Women’s Project, Wings, Lincoln Center Clark Studio, Town Hall, Anne Frank Center USA, EST New Works, Center for Jewish History, WOW Café, Culture Project, Art and Work Ensemble, and more, as well as in Chicago, Minneapolis, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Reno, LA, Richmond, Cape Cod, San Francisco, Florida, Oregon, Alabama, Maryland, Texas, Montreal, Budapest, Jerusalem, Helsinki and London.
She is on the executive committee of Honor Roll (women playwrights over 40).
Cindy’s plays are in 17 publications, and she has won awards from Pen & Brush, Samuel French Play Festival, Malibu International Playwriting Festival, Nantucket Theatre Festival, City of Providence, Quixote Foundation and others.
Cindy is one of four artistic instigators for Statuefest: Put A Woman On A Pedestal, which uses theater to advocate for more monuments honoring women; participates yearly in ‘Women, Theatre and the Holocaust,’ and spends time as an activist, in and out of theater, advocating for parity, equality and justice.
I don’t know all the answers. I mean I’m not some Great Guru. I just know what I know. I just know what has transpired in my life. You have to take chances. . . I will expire before I retire.
Reinventing Yourself: An Inspirational Talk Targeted for Women +50: When act one of life finishes,how do you raise the curtain on act two?Discover careers and ideasyou never dreamed of.
Pat Addiss, Theater Producer, didn’t start out wanting to be a theatrical producer. She was busy running the promotion company she founded, but after 30 years, she handed the reins over to her daughter. Then in 2005, after ‘learning the tools of the trade,’ Pat went on to produce more than 18 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions including: “Spring Awakening,” “Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike” and “Desperate Measures.” And…she’s never looked back!
We do not have equal rights, Ladies. It’s up to us to stick together and fight for our rights and help each other and help young people coming up. I think that’s so important. ~ Tony Award-Winning Broadway Producer Pat Addiss was interviewed by TV Journalist and Theatre Critic Roma Torre at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts October 2022.
Pat Flicker Addiss is a native New Yorker. She was a child model and actress. Went to Finch College where she majored and graduated in honors in Costume Design and Merchandising. She married the love of her life and hoped to have 6 children, 5 of her own and one adopted. However, it was not the dream of her husband who really did not like children or the confines of married life, so 10 years and 3 children later they separated. He became a dead beat ex and she was forced to make a living for herself and children. After great despair and low self image, she started her own Company Pat Addiss Enterprises which designed and manufactured all items and widgets with Corporate names and logos. An impressive mix of diverse clients ie ChaseBank, Manufacturers Hanover, Reader’s Digest, Nestle, Renault , Kravis Center, Wall Street Journal, Ms Magazine, NBC, Ashford and Simpson. Johnnie Walker. Bacardi.
With her profits, she was able to educate all of her children in private schools and cater to her passion of travelling the world to over 54 countries. When most people retire, Pat gave her company to her daughter Wendy (who still runs it) so she could start producing Broadway plays. The first was Little Women starring Sutton Foster. She is still at it with her latest new play Jane Anger starring Michael Urie. Is involved in the development of a new musical Carpathia, starting from scratch. In October she is being honored with LPTW Oral History that will be filmed for the archives of Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library. With a colleague, Magda Katz, she has initiated a formula to connect women through YaYa lunches, dinners and now the addition of upscale tea. She loves to speak to women over 50 “How to Reinvent Yourself.”
Jane Anger by Talene Monahon starring Michael Urie In “Jane Anger,”a new comedy by Talene Monahon, everyone is fed up with the endless waves of sickness and quarantine. The year is 1606, and we are in England, which is enduring another outbreak of the plague. But for one man, a late-career William Shakespeare, there are graver concerns: writer’s block.
The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is a membership organization championing women in theatre and advocating for increased equity and access for all theatre women. Our programs and initiatives create community, cultivate leadership, and increase opportunities and recognition for women working in theatre. The organization provides support, networking, and collaboration mechanisms for members, and offers professional development and educational opportunities for all theatre women and the general public. LPTW celebrates the historic contributions and contemporary achievements of women in theatre, both nationally and around the globe, and advocates for parity in employment, compensation, and recognition for women theatre practitioners through industry- wide initiatives and public policy proposals.
Any women working in the theatre industry are eligible to join LPTW. For more information on upcoming events and to join LPTW, visit http://www.theatrewomen.org
Addiss, a long-time member of LPTW, has produced more than 20 plays on and off Broadway. Many of these have won or were nominated for a Tony, notably: A Christmas Story; Promises, Promises; Passing Strange; Little Women; Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life; Bridge and Tunnel; Spring Awakening; 39 Steps; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; and Eclipsed. View her complete Broadway credits here.
BOARDS:
NJ REP, Vala, Women in the Arts & Media Coalition
BROADWAY SHOWS
Little Women
Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life
Bridge & Tunnel
Spring Awakening
Passing Strange
39 Steps
Vanya, Sonia, Masha & Spike
Promises, Promises
Gigi
Love Letters
Eclipsed
War Horse
A Christmas Story
And my favorite Off-Broadway show:
Desperate Measures, currently playing around the country.
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We believe that our country needs more moms representing our neighborhoods, our communities, and our families because we know that they are dedicated to investing in equitable solutions for future generations to come.
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We can heal. I think it’s really important to be in control of what we’re taking in so that we don’t feel that we have to worry…that we can feel like we can live in our power, we can do things, as artists, that will hopefully push the needle and change the culture and make people think more deeply about what THEY can do if they’re not artists.
Playwright, Dramaturg, and TeacherEmma Goldman-Sherman(she/they) is an autistic, gender-dysphoric, queer, Jewish, feminist playwright living in New York City. Emma Goldman-Sherman is a playwright who likes to challenge audiences in terms of what we think a play can be.
Award-winning playwright Emma Goldman-Sherman creates timeless yet relevant, feminist work that engages on multiple levels to heal what our culture denies. Emma believes in the power of theatre to offer healing and agency to audiences, and their plays tend to be about daunting subjects like war, trauma (including rape, abuse and domestic violence), identity and the conflict in the Middle East. These subjects have touched Emma’s life in various ways, so their work is quite personal even if it isn’t always autobiographical.
Emma’s first memory of live theatre was Peter Pan at Philadelphia’s Playhouse in the Park in the round. At age five, this was life-changing – to be able to help save Tinker Bell with collective applause. She is compelled by the power of theatre to confer healing and agency on audiences.
Emma builds from her own experience as a trauma survivor with chronic illness, a parent and citizen of the world. She has documented human rights abuses and writes as if female experience matters. Rarely naturalistic her work is inspired by visual artists and philosophers. She uses myth (making new/deconstructing known), metaphor, and language/ composition. She expects a strong collaborative approach. Though she’s broken the 4th wall, these days she’s extending the 4th wall to include the audience in new ways.
FUKT was recently live-streamed and performed 0/27 – 11/13/22 at The Tank in NYC! More info The Tank in NYC! Their work has been final listed at BAPF, Unicorn (x3), Risk is This at Cutting Ball (x3), Campfire, Bechdel, and Henley Rose. Counting in Sha’ab is available as a podcast on PlayingonAir.org and Abraham’s Daughters is available as a podcast at TheParsnipShip.com. They are working on a collaboration with Experimental Bitch Presents called Tanya’s Lit Clit which was workshopped at The Tank October 2021 and the Park Avenue Armory in 2022.
Grief Dialogues’ vision is to erase the stigma surrounding dying, death, and grief. Using theatre, visual art, film, music, podcasts, poetry, and narrative, Grief Dialogues opens new conversations between grievers, those with terminal or chronic illness, and their health care providers and caregivers. We believe out of art comes understanding, compassion, and empathy for all involved in grief. Grief Dialogues was created by Elizabeth Coplan, Emma is a contributor.
You and your donation help more people look at their grief through a creative lens. We encourage you to designate your donation to the Grief Dialogues program or project that speaks to you directly.
It’s because of you that we create the podcasts, write and produce plays and films, and most importantly, share your stories, poetry, art, and music. Hopefully this work provides you the confirmation you are not alone in your grief and the satisfaction that you are expanding this supportive community.
Brave Spacebegan when I began to write my personal truths openly for an audience. I stepped into a Brave Space I had to create for myself. Now Brave Space exists to support and encourage the female+ voice. By this I mean to include trans females and AFAB (assigned female at birth) trans males, non-binary and non-gender conforming individuals. In 2022, it is still incredibly necessary for women+ to have a space of our own. Brave Space is that and so much more. Brave Space is a purposefully anti-racist space where each individual is honored for their own voice.
Emma is produced on 4 continents, their work has been seen at Golden Thread, WP Theatre, New Georges, UNESCO’s City of Literature Festival in Dunedin (NZ), EST/LA, Dixon Place, The Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, The New Ohio, Manhattan Theatre Source, All Out Arts at CSV, Circle Rep Lab, Guild Hall, New Circle Theatre Co, The Bernie Wohl Center, The Chain, The Wild Project, Capital Fringe, Alumnae Theatre Toronto, Short + Sweet Gold Coast and Sydney (AU), Seoul, Sasebo, Renegade N.O.W. Festival, The Loft at Marble Collegiate Church, Astoria First Presbyterian’s Brown Tree Theatre, Union Theological Seminary, The Museum of Jewish Heritage, Yiddishe Folksbiene Theatre, Greenbriar Valley Theatre, Canal Cafe Theatre (London), Camilla’s, The Culture Project, and others.
Emma is published by Brooklyn Publishers, Smith Scripts (UK), Next Stage Press, Smith & Kraus and Applause.
They earned an MFA from University of Iowa where they received the Norman Felton Fellowship and won the Richard Maibaum Award for plays addressing social justice for Antigone’s Sister and received a Jane Chambers Award for Perfect Women. Residencies at Millay Colony for the Arts, Ragdale and twice at WordBridge where they returned a third year as a dramaturg. Emma has taught and been a dramaturg at the Great Plains Theatre Conference (2015, 2016). Emma was the Resident Dramaturg at 29th Street Playwrights Collective where they ran the Write Now Workshop from 2015 – 2021.
Emma created and runs the global Zoom offering http://www.BraveSpace.online for all kinds of creatives. Member: Honor Roll!, LPTW, LMDA and the Dramatists Guild.
We’re in a time where we are seeing new voices, new types of voices telling their stories and people create their identity through seeing themselves reflected in work, in all Art, all literature, in any aspect. And if you don’t see yourself reflected EVER then think about how that impacts your life and not only in the character, but the narratives in all its ways. And that’s why I hope to continue to create not only if I can create it, but foster it in other people.
Karen CeciliaShe/Her/Hers (Playwright, Screenwriter, Director) Her work has been seen in NYC at 3LD, La Mama, HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, Theater For The New City, Theatre Odyssey, Sarasota FL, The Coalescence Theatre, Illinois and The Firehouse Theatre, Richmond, VA and Jermyn Street Theater, London England.
As a writer, I feel it is a privilege to tell the stories of people’s lives and show their deepest struggles as well as their greatest triumphs. I strive to engage the audience with my writing, provoke thought about the world around us, and create a new narrative through characters with agency who do not fall into the standard conventions of the past. ~ Karen Cecilia
Perfectly Normal (previously named Mea Culpa) was chosen for the #Shepersisted festival in Bloomington, Illinois and received Semi-Finalist award from The Orlando Shakespeare Theater in 2019. Play Workshops: The Cry Havoc Theatre Company and IVP Productions. She was the winner of the Walter Prichard Eaton Prize for Playwriting Excellence from Hunter College in 2014. She was a co-screenwriter on Daughters of Solanas produced by The Women’s Weekend Film Challenge ‘19. Karen is a frequent guest on City World Radio speaking about theatre and playwriting.
In addition to her playwriting career, Karen founded a theatre company The Call Theatrein 2021 and also has been coordinating, producing and hosting local events that supports community and the arts. The Call Theatre’s mission is to inspire, educate, and truly represent the people of the community through story and community service.
The Call Theatre conceives that theatre can and should happen in any type of space and is in pursuit of claiming spaces in the community for the neighborhood to have access to theatre. *This is an independent theatre company and produces work in any city.
The Call Theatre respects its audiences, believing that public discourse is essential to a democratic society and that stories of underrepresented people are vital to our lives as individuals and as a collective.
The Call Theatre welcomes ALL to the theatre and supports community collaborations.
The Call Theatre conceives that theatre can and should happen in any type of space and is in pursuit of claiming spaces in the community for the neighborhood to have access to theatre. *This is an independent theatre company and produces work in any city.
The Call Theatre. Named to ask the audience, HOW WILL YOU ANSWER THE CALL?
Want to be involved?
email us at thecalltheatre@gmail.com
Instagram: thecalltheatre.brooklyn
Selected works: Ivy Walls-play finalist and produced at the Second Annual Theatre Odyssey One Act Play Festival; Top Finalist Honors 2019 Ivoryton Women Playwright’s Initiative. Perfectly Normal- Finalist #Shepersisted festival, Bloomington, Illinois; Semi-Finalist The Orlando Shakespeare Theater, 2019, Semi-Finalist The Athena Project, CO. Play workshops: The Cry Havoc Theatre Company and IVP Productions. Winner: Walter Prichard Eaton Prize for Playwriting Excellence Hunter College ’14. Co-screenwriter on Daughters of Solanas produced by The Women’s Weekend Film Challenge ‘19. Writer/Director (short) Vanish’d Sight. Video Director for the song Thinking About Leaving from Kate Dulcich on her album Wrong Me.
Karen has an MFA in Playwriting from The Actors Studio Drama School, Member of the the Playwright/Directors Workshop at The Actors Studio NYC, The Dramatists Guild of America and on the Board of Directors for The League Of Professional Theater Women. Publications: 100 MONOLOGUES FROM NEW PLAYS 2020 — WOMEN Limelight Editions/The Applause Acting Series. “Zaza” Monologue from STRIKE: All Women Stand United.
Pilot Episode: First Online With Fran with Angelina Fiordellisi
On November 19th, 2012 First Online With Fran featured Artistic Director and founder of the Cherry Lane Theatre, Angelina Fiordellisi. Listen to her reflect on the work at the Cherry Lane Theatre, most notably the 2013 Mentor Project, among others, and how they contribute to cultivating an urban artist colony, honor its ground-breaking heritage, create theater that illuminates contemporary issues and transforms the human spirit.
Click here for more info.
First Online with Fran 
Karen Cecilia: Challenging the New Normal
Karen Cecilia She/Her/Hers (Playwright, Screenwriter, Director) Her work has been seen in NYC at 3LD, La Mama, HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, Theater For The New City, Theatre Odyssey, Sarasota FL, The Coalescence Theatre, Illinois and The Firehouse Theatre, Richmond, VA and Jermyn Street Theater, London England.
As a writer, I feel it is a privilege to tell the stories of people’s lives and show their deepest struggles as well as their greatest triumphs. I strive to engage the audience with my writing, provoke thought about the world around us, and create a new narrative through characters with agency who do not fall into the standard conventions of the past. ~ Karen Cecilia
Perfectly Normal (previously named Mea Culpa) was chosen for the #Shepersisted festival in Bloomington, Illinois and received Semi-Finalist award from The Orlando Shakespeare Theater in 2019. Play Workshops: The Cry Havoc Theatre Company and IVP Productions. She was the winner of the Walter Prichard Eaton Prize for Playwriting Excellence from Hunter College in 2014. She was a co-screenwriter on Daughters of Solanas produced by The Women’s Weekend Film Challenge ‘19. Karen is a frequent guest on City World Radio speaking about theatre and playwriting.
In addition to her playwriting career, Karen founded a theatre company The Call Theatre in 2021 and also has been coordinating, producing and hosting local events that supports community and the arts. The Call Theatre’s mission is to inspire, educate, and truly represent the people of the community through story and community service.
The Call Theatre conceives that theatre can and should happen in any type of space and is in pursuit of claiming spaces in the community for the neighborhood to have access to theatre. *This is an independent theatre company and produces work in any city.
The Call Theatre respects its audiences, believing that public discourse is essential to a democratic society and that stories of underrepresented people are vital to our lives as individuals and as a collective.
The Call Theatre welcomes ALL to the theatre and supports community collaborations.
The Call Theatre conceives that theatre can and should happen in any type of space and is in pursuit of claiming spaces in the community for the neighborhood to have access to theatre. *This is an independent theatre company and produces work in any city.
The Call Theatre. Named to ask the audience, HOW WILL YOU ANSWER THE CALL?
Want to be involved?
email us at thecalltheatre@gmail.com
Instagram: thecalltheatre.brooklyn
Selected works: Ivy Walls-play finalist and produced at the Second Annual Theatre
Odyssey One Act Play Festival; Top Finalist Honors 2019 Ivoryton Women
Playwright’s Initiative. Perfectly Normal- Finalist #Shepersisted festival,
Bloomington, Illinois; Semi-Finalist The Orlando Shakespeare Theater, 2019,
Semi-Finalist The Athena Project, CO. Play workshops: The Cry Havoc Theatre
Company and IVP Productions. Winner: Walter Prichard Eaton Prize for
Playwriting Excellence Hunter College ’14. Co-screenwriter on Daughters of
Solanas produced by The Women’s Weekend Film Challenge ‘19. Writer/Director
(short) Vanish’d Sight. Video Director for the song Thinking About Leaving from
Kate Dulcich on her album Wrong Me.
Karen has an MFA in Playwriting from The Actors Studio Drama School, Member
of the the Playwright/Directors Workshop at The Actors Studio NYC, The
Dramatists Guild of America and on the Board of Directors for The League Of
Professional Theater Women. Publications: 100 MONOLOGUES FROM NEW
PLAYS 2020 — WOMEN Limelight Editions/The Applause Acting Series. “Zaza”
Monologue from STRIKE: All Women Stand United.
Instagram karen.cecilia6