Leah Lawler (Creator/Director/Head Writer/Nacho)
Leah Lawler is the creator, director, and head writer of Bar-N-Tavern. She also stars as the mysterious head chef with a heart of gold, Nacho. Leah graduated with a BA in Theater with a focus in writing from the George Washington University. She won a Student Emmy in Writing of Episode 2 of an original GWTV sitcom, Gender Neutral. By day she is a hostess at a fine dining establishment. By night, she writes plays with the Philadelphia Dramatists Center and co-moderates a playwrights' workshop, the Playwrights' Happy Hour, with Greg Nanni. She recently had a production of her short play, Exzilla, in the PDC @The Painted Bride Get In Our Shorts Festival and will be acting in a production of The Grand Design as part of the Fringe Festival in September. She occasionally does standup. She and Nacho share a passion for cooking, drinking, and spending time with friends and family.
Greg Nanni (CoWriter / Trevor)
Greg Nanni is a playwright, comic book writer, and marketer living in the Philadelphia area. He is a member of Passage Play Lab, and a former PDC Playwright in Residence at Plays & Players. His plays have been featured in 24 Hour Festivals, the Philadelphia One-Minute Play Festival, and other works have been given staged readings throughout the Philadelphia area. His short plays Scream in America II and The Complete Western History of the Human Race were recently produced by Magnetic Theatre Company and Madlab Theatre respectively. He is a graduate of the George Washington University. Thanks to everyone in the cast and crew for being so awesome to work with! Check out his super cool website: gregnanni.com
Quinn Eli (Assosciate Producer)
Quinn D. Eli grew up in the Bronx, NY and lives now in Philadelphia. His short plays have appeared in Best American Ten-Minute Plays and been produced throughout the country. Longer works include the award-winning MY NAME IS BESS, produced by Trustus Theatre; and HOT BLACK/ASIAN ACTION, a satire about sexual and racial stereotypes that premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival. His web series, OUTSKIRTS, will debut this year. Eli has served as a Playwright-in-Residence at Plays & Players Theatre in Philadelphia and co-founded, with the playwrights Jacqueline Goldfinger and Michael Hollinger, the Foundry, a development lab for emerging local playwrights.
Brian Albert (Chaz)
Brian Albert is an accomplished musician and actor and has performed in over 1000 live performances and has been featured on TV's Discovery Channel "Sliced", The Food Network "The Sugar Dome", and hosted a 12 episode show for Verizon Fios called "My Home 2.0". Coming this October 22-24th Brian is facing his biggest challenge yet "Frankenstein Rocks" a comedic musical that he composed/wrote and also directs the show. He is also an avid inventor and creates some very wild and unique one of a kind inventions. As far as the show Bar 'N' Tavern is concerned, it was a natural fit and really close to home, literally!
Valentine's Day Artists:
Jake Kaiser Wiggins (Hal)
Jake is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. He loves Death Grips and num nums. Jake is honored to make his acting debut in Leah's barn and Bar-N-Tavern. Kake likes 2Chainz, beer, and crying.
Nicole Greenbaum (Katie)
Nicole is a classically trained actress, an internationally trained aerialist, and a Princeton trained chemist. When not on screen, stage, or silks, she can be found translating science into English in Philadelphia's University City. Special thanks to the Bar N Tavern team for including her on this awesome ride! www.nicolegreenbaum.com
President's Day Artists:
Wes Whitaker (Hal)
Wes is a Bucks County local stand up comedian, barista, and a man about town. He is a man of many talents. He is thrilled to be taking part in Bar-N-Tavern. Thanks to the cast and crew.
Abdel Pena (Virgil)
Abdel Pena is thrilled to join the incredibly talented Cast and Crew of Bar N Tavern. He has played Avery X in Happy Ending, Mengo in Crazyface, Mario/Orderly in Theater District, Hector in Emotional Reactions, Juan Julian in Anna in the Tropics, Matthias/Saint Thomas in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Santiago in A Few Good Men. He's been involved in two short films, "Tell Me" as Luis and Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit" as Joseph Garcin. He dedicates his work to everyone who has supported his passion for acting.
Tax Day Artists:
Matthew Robertson (Hal)
Matthew Robertson is a graduate of Montclair State University's College of the Arts with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Studies. He returns to performance after spending the last several years in front of house operations, most recently as Audience Services Manager of Bucks County Playhouse. Some previous favorite credits include Spike in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Richard Henry Lee in 1776, Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night, and 2nd Man (Gangster) in Kiss Me, Kate.
Kim Whitehill (Sherry)
Kim Whitehill is thrilled to take part in the Bar-N-Tavern adventure! By day she works in marketing, but her true passion is performing. Kim regularly appears in regional community theater and sings throughout the Philadelphia area with her post-collegiate a cappella group, the Graduates.
Crew:
Michael Scanlon (Editor / Audio / Tech God)
As a video freelancer and a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Michael's work focuses on the technical side of film making by focusing on audio recording, editing, and image manipulation such as color correction and compression. When not working on a video project he spends his free time studying and researching new technologies to improve his skills in video editing and beyond.
Alex Savvides (Director of Photography)
Alex Savvides, Bar-N-Tavern's Director of Photography, met Leah whilst studying English at the George Washington University. After graduating, he acquired a Masters in Media Studies with a focus in Film from The New School in New York City, where he currently resides. He has been called 'the master of all trades' within the filmmaking arena. He has worked on numerous films, from short to feature length, most notably as Assistant Editor of 42 Seconds of Happiness, written and directed by Christina Kallas. He enjoys food.
Marta Lawler (Production Assistant / Moonfire)
Marta Lawler is a senior at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She has been in several musicals at her school, as well as at Lasalle College High School. This fall she will be performing as the the lead role, Billie Bendix, in Nice Work If You Can Get It. She is so proud of her sister Leah for making Bar-n-Tavern a reality. Marta is constantly in awe of the talented writers and actors, the clever content, and the hilarious goofs and gags that fill each episode.
Elke Schumaker (Production Assistant)
Elke Schumacher is so happy to be a part of the creative Bar N Tavern crew. As a high school student, Elke was in numerous musicals, including Cabaret and Oklahoma! Although Elke is currently a culinary arts student at Drexel University, she fulfills her theater needs by lending a helping hand on the set of Bar N Tavern. Elke gets more excited after every episode they shoot, and she can't wait until the world witnesses the talent that she already has!
Special Thanks To:
Michael Scanlon (Editor)
Quinn Eli
Jake Wiggins
Terry Lawler
Jeff Schumacher
Therese Schumacher
Sam Schumacher
Sarah Mitteldorf
Danny Morris & The Guys
Cast & Crew
The Peeps You Need To Know
