For 35 years, Betsy Bard has been entrenched in the world of curiosity. Recently retired, Betsy served as Social Worker and Manager of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School on-site Day Care Center. To expand her passion for social justice and theater, Betsy worked with Anna Deavere Smith in 2000 as the audience coordinator at her Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University. This experience inspired her to start her own documentary theater project with youth using Deavere Smith’s methodology to investigate issues of concern. Launched at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in 2003, The Theater Project premiered its first production based on recorded interviews investigating “the achievement gap”. Through The Theater Project, Betsy Bard directed and produced five plays with support from the City of Cambridge, Harvard University, and Cambridge Community Foundation. In 2010, Betsy joined the Youth Underground (YU) team, bringing her experience and passion for authentic investigative theater that provokes civic dialogue and action beyond the stage. YU is a socio-economically, culturally, and ethnically diverse youth Ensemble serving ages 13-25, with stipend-eligible opportunities to create theater together and in tandem with community-based organizations, and showcase their work across Greater Boston. YU is the only Greater Boston youth theater program that focuses on creating devised work that shines a light on social justice issues of concern from/for young people, and moderates companion community dialogues about each issue raised in the thematic plays. As Lead Teaching Artist and Playwright, Betsy has created eight YU investigative theater plays, including Money Matters, You Can Tell at Lunch, Crossing Borders, Six Years Online, Find Out What it Means to Me, Don’t Knock Opportunity, and Circle Up! Currently, Betsy is working on the multi-year Act Up and Vote!, a new play that shares stories from voters and activists in underrepresented communities; addresses questions about elected official representation; and examines voting access across communities. Betsy extended her leadership as an Educator, Artist, and Activist by joining the Central Square Theater Board of Directors in 2011.
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Melissa Alexis (Choreographer) is proud to be choreographing this production of Black Odyssey Boston by The Front Porch, Underground Railway Theater, and Central Square Theater. Melissa choreographs to make the inherent therapeutic properties of movement visible, and project on stages our collective healing and liberation. A first generation Trinidadian immigrant, her movement is rooted in the intersection between African and Western perspectives, as well as social justice, sustainability, and mindfulness studies. Melissa’s Afro-fusion dance works have been presented as part of Brooklyn-based The Creators Collective, and at Boston Center for the Arts, Sarah Lawrence College, Tufts University, The Dance Complex, Green Street Studios, Smith College Department of Theatre, Wheelock College Center for Race Amity, and as a ritual healing practice, at many public and historic spaces, among them, Arlington Street Church with Black Lives Matter Boston, Myrtle Baptist Church, and Museum of Fine Arts. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and when not presenting dance, she facilitates cross-sector applications of dance and mindfulness through her organization, Cultural Fabric and the Healing Arts Institute program. FB & IG: @culturalfab
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Allyssa Jones (Musical/Choral Director) makes her Underground Railway Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective debut with black odyssey boston. An inaugural recipient of The Boston Foundation’s Live Arts Boston grant, Allyssa has composed original music, and provided music direction and/or sound design for Company One (Revolt. She Said. Revolt, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation, Grimm/Cry Baby Jones, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992), Speakeasy Stage (School Girls), Lyric Stage Company (Intimate Apparel, Mr. Burns, The Wiz), Apollinaire Theatre Company (Invasion/¡Bocón!, Peggy Pickett Sees the Face of God), TC Squared Theatre Company (Everyman), Boston Public Works (Turtles), OWLL Theatre Company (Hidden Faces of Courage), and Riverside Theatre Works (Les Misérables). Notable projects include an original score for the film Knockaround Kids (ADEkoje Filmwerks) and her own musical The Puppet Show. In addition to her theatrical work, Allyssa is a singer/songwriter with five solo releases and over two decades of appearances under her belt. Keep up with Ms. Jones at MsJonesMusic.com and JonesCNC.com.
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