Wendy Kout is an award-winning writer/producer of stage, film, virtual screen, and television. SURVIVORS was commissioned by CenterStage Theatre of Rochester, New York, and has been touring schools and stages there since 2018. Recent productions of SURVIVORS toured schools in Philadelphia and Victoria, BC, Canada, and a West Coast tour launched in spring 2023. NEVER IS NOW, an iteration of SURVIVORS, had an acclaimed world premiere at Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles, in September 2019 and was also performed at the USC Fisher Museum, and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Wendy’s film credits include Co-Writer and Co-Producer of Jacob the Baker, and writing award-winning Dorfman in Love, starring Elliott Gould, Sara Rue, and Haaz Sleiman. Television credits include Creator and Co-Executive Producer of the Golden Globe and ASCAP award-winning ABC series Anything but Love, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis. Wendy considers the writing and launching of SURVIVORS to be her greatest responsibility and her greatest honor.
Genie Benson is the Executive Producer at TEEV. Founded in 1994, this full-service company produces concerts, conferences, festivals, galas, and live-stream events for organizations, universities, and cultural festivals throughout North America. Genie has worked on the productions of Israel 60 at the Kodak Theatre, Save a Child’s Heart galas at CSUN and UCLA, all local Los Angeles shows with TEEV artists, and built national tours for TEEV’s Israeli artists. Genie is also the Executive Director of Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble, an Israeli contemporary dance company who for forty years has toured the world breaking down barriers of difference through dance. The child of Holocaust survivors, Sidonia and Lewis Lax, Genie is an unassailable advocate for Holocaust Education and is determined to bring the play SURVIVORS to students everywhere.
Founder of Teev Events, David Azulay is widely recognized as the leading Israeli music agent, producer, and manager in North America. David is dedicated to introducing audiences to the highest quality, cutting edge, and diverse Israeli culture. He has worked with Jewish organizations, universities, performing arts centers, and music and cultural festivals internationally. Most leading Israeli artists are represented by David and Teev. Throughout his career, he has always strived to build connections between cultures and people, and to create atmospheres for better understanding, harmony, and peace though art. Working with Arts For Change on SURVIVORS brings all of these elements together. With 30 years of experience, David produces conferences and events across the globe, working with large communities and renowned organizations to deliver high quality, historic events.
For the past 40 years, Gary has specialized in the design and installation of high-end audiovisual systems within the entertainment industry. Along with his voiceover and VOG experience, he has lent his talents to all Arts for Change theatrical endeavors, which include editing the historical audio and video projections for SURVIVORS as well as for the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble presentations. He is also very involved with the SURVIVORS West Coast tour, lending his AV experience, recording his voice and live VOG at performances. It has meant the world to Gary to be part of this extraordinary project. History teaches us to remember the costly mistakes of the past so that we never repeat them. SURVIVORS puts this important message squarely before us now.
Evie Abat is a former doctoral-level psychotherapist turned actor turned writer/director/producer. As an actor, she has been seen on stages around LA in such productions as Bloodletting (Playwrights Arena), Othello (Griot Theatre), America Adjacent (Skylight Theatre), The Late Wedding (Son of Semele), Titus Andronicus (BoomStick Theater), and the world premiere of Never Is Now (Skylight Theatre), which was developed from the personal accounts, included in this production of Survivors. She wrote, directed, and produced the award-winning short, Dad’s Gone Wild, and won best short script and semi-finalist in the festival circuit with her dramedic script, Romeo and Julio. Her full-length play, The Book of Mom, enjoyed its first live reading last December at Two Roads Theater.
A Native of Boston, Chrissy graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her stage career began in New York where she performed Off-Broadway in Woman of Manhattan, The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie and The Women. Chrissy now calls Los Angeles her home. Her on screen credits include City of Love, Sounds of Silence, Bad Kill and the mini-series The World According to Billy Potwin, opposite Kevin Sorbo. Chrissy transitioned into producing for Christopher Priest's The Stooge starring Robert Picardo, Lupita and Dad's Gone Wild. Her directorial debut in Work of Heart won her a nomination for Best New Director (Out Of The Can International Film Festival). Chrissy is honored to be part of SURVIVORS and feels it's a poignant piece of theatre for all walks of life.
Tomer Ronen is a seasoned Live Sound Engineer from Orange County with fifteen years of expertise as a live sound engineer and designer. Founder of TR Sound LLC, Tomer specializes in events and tours, providing top-notch technical support and high-end sound solutions. Notable credits include Ishay Ribo, Omer Adam, Hanan Ben Ari, and Idan Raichel Project USA Tours. With a strong background in major events, Tomer is a creative problem solver ready for any challenge. Being part of the SURVIVORS team tour is not just a job; it's an opportunity to elevate the audience experience and contribute to the power of storytelling through sound.
Randall Fried is an educator, speaker, and advocate with over 18 years of experience addressing antisemitism, Holocaust education, and Jewish identity. As Director of Philanthropic Engagement & Communications at Tzedek America, he supports immersive educational programs that combat antisemitism and bigotry in schools nationwide. Randall has guided thousands of teens on the March of the Living, creating transformative connections between students and Holocaust survivors while imparting the critical lessons of Jewish history. Randall is also an active member of the World Jewish Congress Jewish Diplomatic Corps and Speakers Bureau, where he contributes to global advocacy efforts on behalf of Jewish communities. Through SURVIVORS, Randy strives to bridge history with the present, inspiring empathy and action in the face of hate and indifference.
Tedd has over 40 years of experience in the Broadcast Television industry. He began his career in New York City in film postproduction, then expanded into the video industry and relocated to Hollywood to run operations for Metromedia. Their major client was Norman Lear’s sitcoms. Tedd also contributed to the creation of Fox Broadcasting Company, the 4th Network and from 1986 through 2013, he helped in the technical development of the Fox Broadcast, sports and Cable networks. Tedd, like his wife Shellie Yaseen, thinks it is crucial that the world never forget the Holocaust and is honored to support SURVIVORS.
Shellie was involved in the television post-production industry for 40 years before retiring. Starting in Chicago, she moved to New York and ended her career serving the Hollywood and Burbank studios and production companies. Shellie broke the glass ceiling by being the first woman to hold the position of technical sales and one of the first corporate executives in the video industry. Shellie is honored to be a member of the SURVIVORS family and teach young and older audiences history that should never be forgotten.
Gary Grossman is the Producing Artistic Director of Skylight Theatre Company, which is recognized as a “powerhouse of new play development” by the national Dramatist Magazine, and as “a leader in play development" by the Los Angeles Times. In just the last five years, two plays originating at Skylight have been performed off-Broadway: The Wrong Man (14 New York Award nominations), and Church & State (65+ productions nationally). Skylight and its artists have been recognized locally and nationally, including the prestigious Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Citation for Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea. In 2019, Center Theatre Group remounted Skylight’s multiple award-winning production of Rotterdam at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as a part of Block Party. Gary is proud that Skylight Theatre Company was instrumental in the development of SURVIVORS by producing the play’s first staged reading, and in 2019, also producing an iteration of the play titled NEVER IS NOW.
CenterStage is the professional theatre program of the Rochester, NY Jewish Community Center. Producing Artistic Director Ralph Meranto commissioned SURVIVORS from Wendy Kout and has been at the forefront of new play development including Jason Odell Williams’ Church & State (off-Broadway 2017, OBA Nomination Best New Play), Division Street (2019), On the Market (2022), Kasha Davis’ There’s Always Time for a Cocktail (off-Broadway premiere 2015), Deb Margolin’s Imaging Madoff, Wendy Kout’s Naked in Encino, David Hein/Irene Sankoff’s My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, Stephen Kaplan’s Tracy Jones (2022), and Joshua Hershfield’s musical RISE about Jewish resistance fighters. Ralph considers bringing SURVIVORS to school and community groups to be one of the most satisfying experiences of his life.
Yoni Boujo
Diane Kabat
Sue Avisar
Andrew Benson
Brendan Gellman
Gregg Gellman
Will Levine
Shellie Yaseen "Mamala"
Teddy Rosenfeld
Bruce Feldman
Rod Lathim