Hi, Are You Single?

Written and performed by Ryan J. Haddad 

Directed by Laura Savia

Exploring the complicated intersection of romance and disability from his unique perspective as a gay man with cerebral palsy, Haddad’s one-man show takes you on a roller-coaster ride through New York’s gay dating scene, where the highs are high and the lows are lonely. He hits the clubs and bars expecting glamour and excitement, but soon realizes his cerebral palsy and his walker make him an outsider. With equal parts humor and hurt, he examines everything from Grindr, drag queens and go-go dancers to intimacy, rejection and judgment. His one request? Bring an attractive male friend with you.

Kaitlin Becker is an Emmy nominated actor, singer, and writer. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting, she moved to NYC to pursue her acting career. For the past 17 years she has performed professionally in off-Broadway theatres, regional theatres, national tours, and kids tv. A highlight is working as a host/segment producer for Sunny Side Up - a live morning kids show on NBC Universal. Her work on SSU included writing and performing with Rita Moreno, Julie Andrews, and first lady Michelle Obama. Currently she plays Meekah for the popular Blippi franchise. Meekah has a spin off series on Netflix and Disney plus. Kaitlin has done voiceover for Sesame Workshop's Mecha Builders, Camp Camp, Dee and Friends in Oz, Rescue Bots and can be heard on Pinna Audio and Wondery's Once Upon A Beat. Kaitlin is a mother to her 7 year old Everett, and the two of them enjoy making up stories and songs.

Charles Day is a native New Yorker who hails from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His love of the arts began as a child while attending Broadway shows with his family. He has appeared in several off-Broadway plays including Treading Water, Going South and William Shakespeare’s, Julius Cesar. Charles’s journey as a writer began by attending workshops facilitated by the NY Public Library and the Reading Room Writer’s Program, respectively. His short story, The Floating Violin, was translated to Spanish and published on the Guardianes de la Memoria podcast as part of an episode called Un regalo para ti (A Gift for You). Under the tutelage of Scott Organ at the Barrow Group School, Charles completed his first full-length play, For All We Know. He is currently working on a semi-autobiographical one man show entitled, The Vanity Project.

John Michael DiResta is a multi-disciplinary theater artist and professor. His work as a director, adapter, playwright, deviser, solo performer and dramaturg focuses on new work development, site-responsive theater, community engagement, and queer liberation. He is currently leading a multi-year queer community-building endeavor grounded in the excavation of lost queer plays. John Michael has developed new works at La Mama, New Dramatists, The Atlantic Theater Company, The Dramatists Guild, MCC Theater, The Drama League, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and elsewhere. His writing has been published in HowlRound, The Brooklyn Rail, The Journal of Theatre and Performance Training, and the Phish Companion: A Guide to the Band and Their Music.  

Cassidy is a spiraling multi-hyphenate exploring all an artistic life has to offer. Acting she can be seen in Severance (Apple TV), New Amsterdam (NBC), Hunters (Amazon Prime), and others. As a singer, she recently made her Carnegie Hall soloist debut and led the world premiere workshop of Adam Gwon's All The Worlds a Stage at Keen Theater Company. She created the role of Fern in the first folk-rock national tour of Charlotte's Web. She also sings in New York City's official choir, NYCS. As a writer Cassidy has created work for the stage, screen, and beyond- including a punk-rock abortion fundraiser cabaret, an immersive short-story themed haunted house for which she won a NYCAC award, and a full-length conversion camp musical Goliath with collaborator Ethan Carlson. Her short film script Killing Cherry Jane has won accolades at the Vail, Atlanta, and Cinequest film festivals. She is the Executive and Artistic Director of Divine Riot.

Gina Stevensen is a playwright, screenwriter, dramaturg, and performer. They received a 2023 Vermont Arts Council/NEA Creation Grant to develop their play Breakfalls, which premiered at Vermont Stage in spring 2024 and was nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Vermont performance credits include The Thin Place (Vermont Stage), Front Porch Follies (BCA/Highlight), What the Constitution Means to Me (Middlebury Acting Company), and more. Gina was the 2021 winner of the Kernodle New Play Award, the 2020 winner of the New Works Initiative at Good Luck Macbeth, a 2019 winner of the Columbia@Roundabout New Play Reading Series, and a 2022 artist-in-residence at Ragdale. Their plays have been developed in NYC, London, and across the country with Roundabout Theatre Company, American Stage, Urban Stages, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Barter Theatre, and more. They've been a finalist for Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award, the Jewish Playwriting Contest, the Dramatist Guild Foundation’s Fellows Program, and the Austin Film Festival Pitch Competition, and a semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award (twice), the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference (three times), the Bay Area Playwrights Festival (three times), The Blue Ink Playwriting Award, the Ashland New Plays Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Premiere Stages Play Festival, and more. As a dramaturg Gina has supported classics and new works with LaMama E.T.C, Vermont Shakespeare Festival, Middlebury Acting Company, and others. They have been a guest lecturer at Hunter College, NYU, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Vermont. MFA Playwriting: Columbia University. BFA Drama: NYU Tisch.

Storytelling Masterclass

1. with teaching artist Susanne Schmidt

2. January 25 & 26

Are you interested in advancing your storytelling skills? Join us for this weekend intensive and explore new ways to craft, edit, and perform your true, first-person narrative. The workshop includes direct instruction, individualized story feedback, and the opportunity to perform in the Sunday evening *Snap* StorySlam. All levels of students are welcome, and prior experience in live non-fiction performance might. Participants are encouraged to prepare a story idea prior to the workshop.

TEACHING ARTIST SUSANNE SCHMIDT

Susanne Schmidt is a comedic storyteller, producer, and national speaker. As a storyteller, Susanne’s work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Home Box Office’s (HBO) Inspiration Room, National Public Radio (NPR), and WGBH Stories from the Stage. She is a 2021 recipient of a Webby Award for her story House on Fire and was named the Best of Valley Voices Storyteller by New England Public Media (NEPM) in 2016 and 2022. Susanne is a producer and workshop facilitator for The Moth and a story consultant dedicated to helping mission-driven organizations use the power of stories for good.

In addition to her storytelling work, Susanne is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and a faculty member at the University of Vermont and Vermont State University’s graduate programs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Susanne is the mother of two amazing young men who LOVE that she often talks about them on stage!
For more information visit: Susanneschmidtstories.com 

• MORE INFO

Join us for a free open-mic storytelling event as part of the second *snap* First Person Arts Festival. This event features stories told by the participants from the *snap* Storytelling Masterclass workshop led by Susanne Schmidt, held on January 25 & 26. Once the masterclass storytellers have performed, we'll open up the mic for to anyone with a five-minute story to share (note: available performance slots are limited and will be determined on the night of the event). Come tell your story, or just enjoy the show!