FRANKENSTEIN (film) – Creative Team

Eric B. Sirota (Book, Music and Lyrics)
Eric B. Sirota is a composer/playwright, having written 5 full-length musicals. He studied musical composition at Brown University. He is also a highly published research scientist with a PhD in Physics.   His musical, Frankenstein, played Off-Broadway at St. Luke’s Theatre for 3 years, following earlier development at NYMF. His musical Your Name On My Lips, an original love story, had two productions at the award-winning venue Theater for the New City, where Sirota was a resident playwright.  Go, My Child had staged readings at the Actor’s Temple Theatre in NYC.   In 2019, he was the recipient of the Denis Diderot grant to attend the Chateau Orquevaux residency where he wrote A Good Day which is currently in development.  (Music, memory, an old flame and Alzheimer’s – You just hope for a good day.)    As composer (with librettist Vin Morreale Jr.), he wrote A Day at the White House, which was recently recorded as a radio podcast.  Other major works include The Flemington Oratorio and a dramatic musical setting of Unetane Tokef.   Eric is married to the artist Cara London, and were featured in the New York Times.  (https://EricSirota.com)

John Lant (Producer / Producing Artistic Director)
John is a 35-year veteran in the entertainment industry and has been involved in over 600 television, film, music tours, and theatrical productions as a creative director, consultant, and/or above the line entity. An award-winning producer, director, writer, lighting and set designer, John has mounted productions at Cal Arts, Ricardo Montalban, Powerhouse, Glendale Center, Hollywood Playhouse, Long Beach Playhouse, the Jewel Box Theatres and Write Act Repertory. His work and productions garnered DramaLogue, Diamond, ADA, NAACP Awards, LA Weekly and Backstage Picks of the Week, Garland and Valley Theatre (LA) nominations. John worked with Jonathan Sanger at Chanticleer Films, on two shorts that won an Emmy and an Oscar, and mentored under Howard Storm. Scripts he has developed include Children’s TV Pilots Symphology, Carrot Talk, and cable-themed Anonymous Confessions, and several adapted musicals. John received the California Service Award from the State Legislature for his Community Outreach and Service to the Arts in 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2009. In NYC, he is current Production Manager at Carnegie Hall, and on down time redesigns, redevelops and refurbishes theatres including the upstairs Davenport Theatre, Elektra Theatre, Times Square Arts Center Theatres, the Richmond Shepard, and a new exciting project for late Summer 2017, refurbishing an old off-Broadway in the Theatre District to it’s old glory. John’s 30-week off-Broadway production of FABULOUS! The Queen of Musicals! was recently licensed through Steele Rights. This past year he produced 2 off-Broadway Shows at St. Luke’s Theatre: An Equity production of 2 By Tennessee Williams and the new musical Pillars of New York.  He is the current Producing Artistic Director of Write Act Repertory and Founding Member of newly formed N.M.C.L.O. (New Musical Civic Light Opera), concentrating on the development of second stage full musical workshop / productions for off-Broadway shows, and is also the Director of Development for Twisted Media NYC, his current musical production Lili Marlene played in LA prior to coming to Off-Broadway, and now current off-Broadway production of Eric Sirota’s Frankenstein resides here at St. Luke’s Theatre.

Tamra Pica (Producer/Casting Director)
Tamra is excited to be back on the East Coast with Frankenstein and Lili Marlene. Tamra’s theater and television work spans nearly 30 years and over 250 productions as a prop designer, AEA Stage Manager, producer and casting director of plays, musicals, dance and ice shows.  She’s worked in television for companies such as Disney, Sony, Cartoon Network, NBC Studios, TBS, CBS, MTV, ABC and FOX in production and development.  Recent credits include Caldwell’s Bomb for the New York Venus/Adonis Theater Festival, Renewal, Your Name on My Lips at Theater for the New City and the long running musical Fabulous! Queen of the New Musicals where she served as a casting director and producer.

Joe LoBianco (Director)
Joe is an award winning film Director and Director of Photography for feature and short films. As a director of film and music Joe started his career working for commercial clients such as the NY Jets, Bloomingdales and IBM. Joe’s photography has also been featured throughout the world and has circulated to millions. Joe directed the full length feature film 3 Doors From Paradise now in worldwide distribution, the short films Quality Control and multiple award winning Dinner For Two. TV shows include The Toronto ArtHouse Film Festival Awards, the MMA show ChokeHold. He is also the director of photography for the children’s show Funikijam and Art Garfunkel music videos and promos as well as Off-Broadway plays such as Ximer..  Joe was also the editor on the multiple award winning documentary Keeping Christmas.

Kent Jeong Eun Kim (Musical Director)
Kent is a composer, musical director and pianist based in New York City. Originally from South Korea, she studied classical piano performance at Hansei University, and completed her Masters of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Composition at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU in 2017. Career highlights include a collaboration with Alan Ferber’s Big Band in 2016, a reading of her full-length musical Out With a Bang, in 2017, playing in Icon with Broadway legend Donna McKechnie, and ongoing pianist and musical director work at St. Luke’s Theatre (Frankenstein, It Came From Beyond, Geek, Wicked City Blues).

Maarten Cornelis (Lighting Designer)
Maarten is a Belgian born American Light Designer and Actor. He is a recent transplant from Los Angeles and is happy to be working in NYC (the capital of all theatre). He has been in the entertainment industry professionally since the age of fourteen. During the span of the last 20 years, Maarten has worn multiple hats. His interest in the technical world of entertainment spiked after studying at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles. He led their theater group, producing and directing their shows and holding the role as the institute’s Technical Director. Over the years, Maarten has been designing the lights for many live events, working with/for Francis Ford Coppola, Stephen Rivkin, Lloyd J. Schwartz, Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, Dino De Laurentiis, Ennio Morricone, and many more. He is happy to be back at St. Luke’s Theatre and to be working with this talented group of people. Please check www.maartencornelis.com for more info.

Cara London (Co-Executive Producer & Portrait Art)
Cara is a fine artist.  She studied Art History at Brandeis and obtained an MFA at Parsons School of Design/NY Studio School and studied painting with John Adams Griefen. Attended Triangle Artists’ Workshop, Vermont Studio School, Emma Lake, Leighton Foundation, and Chateau Orquevaux.  She is the founder and was the curator of Gallery at the Park, at the Park Performing Arts Center where Frankenstein was filmed.  She regularly exhibits in solo and group shows. Please see CaraLondon.com for more info.