OUR PRODUCING TEAM
Leo Lion | Founder, Artistic Director
Leo is a NYC-based director, performer, teaching artist, rpg storyteller, and clown. Leo founded Firebird in 2013 when they were 13 years old. Since then, Leo has directed twelve Firebird productions: Down the Chocolate River and Beyond, Expresso, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Romeo+Juliet, Our Town, R.U.R., The Tempest, Julius Caesar, and An Enemy of the People, and Macbeth: Online, Rossum’s Universal Robots, and The Snow Queen. For Firebird’s youth ensemble, Leo teaches youth arts classes in improv, playwriting, acting shakespeare, and more. He also serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, where he creates interactive experiences inspired by classic books.
Leo is a Member of Dramatists’ Guild and Stage Directors and Choreographers Association.
leolion.com
Zoe Senese-Grossberg | Associate Artistic Director
Zoe Senese-Grossberg is a NY based director, playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. She has been the literary director of Firebird since Romeo + Juliet in 2017. Past directing credits include: Firebird’s The Seagull, At The End Of The World, Hamlet, Sarah Ruhl’s Orlando, and Twelve Ophelias. Zoe’s play Lay The Bent to the Bonny Broom was a 2023 semi-finalist for the National Playwright’s Conference.
Currently, Zoe is writing a solo show/pop music cabaret about the life of Bosie Douglas. If you know who that is please talk to her. zoesenesegrossberg.com.
Jenna Baker (JB) Morrissey | Production Manager
JB is a NYC-based stage manager and theatre artist from upstate New York. She received her B.A. in Theatre Studies from SUNY New Paltz in 2021. Recent credits include Boy My Greatness at The Firebird Project, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Delivery Boy with Kitchen Sink Theatre Company (SM), The Woodlands at NYTF (SM), (t)RUST at The Tank (SM), and BLOOM BLOOM POW with Dead Horse Productions (ASM). JB is ⅓ of the podcast Feminine Features and creates content on Youtube and TikTok. Special thanks to the team and Ben. linktr.ee/jbmorrissey
OUR TEACHING ARTISTS
Kathleen (Kit) Dionne is a playwright, director, and RPG artist from NYC. Kit is an RPG game leader at Brooklyn Game Lab, and has served as a stage manager for Phoenix Theatre Ensemble’s Scandalton LIVE!, the New York Theater Festival (For Theo, 2023). An alumna of NYU Tisch (BFA Dramatic Writing, 2020), Kit is a passionate storyteller, theatermaker, and educator. Kit’s creative approach emphasizes collaboration, connection with other artists, and a curious willingness to play.
Benny Rendell is a filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter, who grew up in Firebird’s youth ensemble and now performs in the resident company (Boy My Greatness, Rossum’s Universal Robots). He studied filmmaking with Carlo Mirabella-Davis (dir. Swallow, The Swell Season, The Servant) and studied screenwriting with Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, Homeland, Fellow Travelers). Benny’s films have been selected for film festivals including the Woodstock, Austin, and Williamsburg Film Festivals. A proud homeschool alum, Benny is currently studying Filmmaking and Cinema Studies at NYU Tisch.
Find out more about Benny’s films and his independent production company at mirroruptonaturefilms.com
Sophie Falvey is an actor, writer, and teaching artist, and a resident artist of the Firebird Players ensemble (Rossum’s Universal Robots, The Seagull, Boy My Greatness). They specialize in teaching theater devising and have a background in both classical and experimental acting, as well as clown & improv. Sophie’s playful, confident approach encourages students to come out of their shell and find their own storytelling style.
Isabelle Pflanz is an actor, somatic dancer, and teaching artist, and a resident artist of the Firebird Players ensemble (Our Town, Rossum’s Universal Robots) who grew up in the youth ensemble (eXpresso, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Our Town). She specializes in physical theatre and devised storytelling, and has a background in classical acting and contact improv. With a love for telling stories through physical play, Isabelle helps students confidently engage their bodies and become supportive, collaborative ensemble members.
Resident Artist Company
Rae Bell
Sophie Falvey
Katie Homer-Drummond
Isabelle Pflanz
Thomas Manfred Pflanz
Maximillian Romanov
Eli Wassertzug
Juli Worth