“All The World’s A Stage”- Shakespeare

Aspiring actors and actresses come to New York City to make their dreams come true every day. There are a host of neighborhood theater classes, acting programs and Improv studios targeted for teens and young adults. But, the love of art and theater starts in childhood. Having young children of our own who participate in various activities within the downtown Manhattan community, we noticed a gap in the market for theater. We created Spotlight Kids NY to give our youngest new yorkers the opportunity to create, build, and perform in a real, on stage theater show.

Backstage Crew

TAMRYN SHAMI | Co-founder

Graduating from F.I.T. in 2001 with a BA in fashion management, Tamryn has had the amazing opportunity to work and travel across the globe to design and develop for top fashion retailers. Throughout her career, she participated in retail forums to share her knowledge of fashion and business.

In 2013, Tamryn and her husband welcomed their twins. And in 2018, welcomed a new baby girl. To keep up in the industry, she started teaching at a local university. Tamryn’s teaching experience was rewarding in that she loved to share in her fashion experience and expertise to the next generation. Tamryn’s love for community & passion for creativity still comes through in various ways as she participates in the community and within her children’s school. Tamryn’s desire to foster her own children’s talents is really what inspired her to bring Spotlight Kids NY to the downtown neighborhood.

DANIELLE BURAKOVSKY | Co-Founder

Receiving her MFA in Costume Design from Tulane University. Danielle has worked on various projects in Fashion, TV, Film, and Theater, which included Law & Order SVU, She’s Funny That Way and Vinyl. She also had the amazing opportunity to work as an assistant costume designer for the TV Series, Gotham for which she was nominated for an Emmy in 2015.

Danielle’s love of theater began when she was a young child. Now that she and her husband are raising their two small children in downtown Manhattan, she wanted to give NYC kids like hers a glimpse of how creativity and passion can truly start at any age. She is thrilled to bring Spotlight Kids NY to the community she and her family have grown to love.

Meet Our Staff

EMILY WEXLER | Head Teaching Artist

Emily Wexler is a Brooklyn-based teaching artist/singer/actor aiming to harness the transformative power of the performing arts in education as a tool for community building, as well as for self-growth, self-knowledge, and individual story-telling. Emily is a Teaching Artist for ENACT, a performance-based drama therapy organization that engages the city’s vulnerable youth to help transform their behavior in school and in life through performance.

She is also a Teaching Artist at Bank Street School for Children. At Bank Street, Emily co-runs a Shakespeare after school program for 9-13 year-olds, teaches voice lessons, conducts and co-runs the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade choruses, choreographs and co-directs the 8th grade musical, and runs the vocal portion of the Rock Band program for 5th-8th graders. She also directs a drama program at The International High School at Laguardia Community College, called EarSay Youth Voices, a theater program for new immigrant teenagers to build community, tell their stories, feel empowered in their own narratives, build confidence, and practice English. Along with her work as a Teaching Artist, Emily acts and sings professionally.

JULIA SHARP-LEVINE | Head Teaching Artist

Julia Sharpe-Levine is an artist, educator, writer, and activist living in Brooklyn. She has a Masters degree in Applied Theatre from CUNY’s School of Professional Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Drama and Chinese from Vassar College. When she’s not at Spotlight Kids, she works as a teaching artist at New York City Children’s Theatre and as the Arts and Education Program Director at the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia University/the African American Policy Forum. She’s led workshops on theatre and social engagement throughout the city, and has written articles on the intersections of arts and politics for publications such as the Huffington Post and Rewire Magazine. She’s incredibly excited to bring her passion for applied theatre and early education to Spotlight Kids!

SALOME EGAS | Head Teacher

Salomé is an Ecuadorian actor, dancer, activist, translator and arts educator. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College in Dance and Theater, attended the “Shakespeare Programme” at the British American Drama Academy (UK); and obtained a Master’s degree from NYU Gallatin, focusing her studies in International Education, Mythology and Performing Arts. She is also a 2018 fellow of the Hemispheric Institute’s Emerging Artist Program for political performance, EmergeNYC. Salomé’s works aim to combine her passion for the performing arts and social justice with the goal of helping her Latinx and many other immigrant communities to heal through applied dance, art and theater.

BEN LUNDBERG TORRES SANCHEZ | Head Teaching Artist

Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sánchez is an artist and educator based on Lenape, Narragansett, and Wampanoag lands occupied by New York City and Providence. His work uses performance and objects to transform individual witness into collective action.

Lundberg Torres Sánchez is a resident artist at AS220 in Providence, the founder of the exhibition series, Se Aculilló?, and sits on the board of the Colombian American Cultural Society of Rhode Island. He is the recipient of NEA funding through AS220’s 2017 Community Live Arts Residency, was RISCA’s 2017 Merit Fellow in New Genres, and is RISCA’s 2018 Merit Fellow in Film & Video.

SARAH BARTLEY | Co-Teacher

Sarah Bartley moved to NYC when she was 18 to pursue her dreams of acting. Sarah recently graduated from The New School For Drama with a BFA in acting, where she spent 4 years perfecting her craft and engaging her community through art. During her time at The New School, she was a teaching artist at Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education focusing on acting and body positivity. She has been involved in theatre since she was young, and has dabbled in directing and writing as well.

Sarah has joined Spotlightkids NY, to continue on the path of giving the young children of downtown Manhattan a glimpse of what art and theater are truly all about. She’s excited to come on board in 2019, and be in the Spotlight.

LAUREN CAMP | Dance Artist

Lauren Camp received her BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase College with an emphasis in Choreography. Lauren has choreographed for NYU/Atlantic Theater’s Spring Awakening, Scandinavian American Theater Company’s Bastards of Strindberg, Lucy Moses’ Summer Musical Theater Workshop and Utah Festival Opera’s Seussical the Musical. She co-founded MADArt Creative, a collaborative performing arts company where she choreographed four evening-length modern dance pieces for the company. She currently dances with Yoo and Dancers and The LM Project and teaches for the Vanderbilt YMCA, Central Park Dance Academy, and the Lucy Moses School. She is excited to join the Spotlight Kids family!

MARY KATE ABNER | Assistant Teaching Artist

Mary Kate Abner is a student, artist, and educator living in NYC. She is a freshman at New York University studying Educational Theatre at Steinhardt, where she plans to also double major in Public Policy with minors in Race and Gender studies. Mary Kate has been pursuing theatre, in all aspects, since she was in middle school. Shows that she has directed and worked on include Tarzan, Romeo and Juliet, Phantom of the Opera, and more. One of her desires in education is for students to experience how life-changing theatre can be through song, dance, and the story coming alive. Mary Kate is thrilled to bring her passion for theatre and students to Spotlight Kids NY!

CHRISTOPHER MILLIGAN | Voice Coach/Dance Artist

Christopher Michael Milligan is a New York based actor, singer, dancer with over 10 years of professional performance experience. He is fresh off the International Tour of The Wizard of Oz as the Scarecrow. Christopher attended and graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts and a Minor in Musical Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College. He has also been a director/choreographer with Broadway Workshop under the direction of Marc Tumminelli and The Nightingale Bamford School in Manhattan. When he isn’t directing, choreographing or performing, Christopher loves french bulldogs, playing soccer, shooting photography, and scoping out the best chips ‘n guac in town!

TIMOTHY GAGE | Teaching Artist

Timothy Gage is a New York City based theatre artist and educator. He moved to New York after graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Performance from SUNY New Paltz. As an artist, Timothy works as a director and choreographer and has out up numerous shows with students ages 5 – 18. As an educator, he has taught acting, dance, writing, improv, speech, movement, and more to students ages 3 – 80. Timothy also works as a teaching artist at New York Theatre Workshop and TADA! Youth Theater. He is also professionally affiliated with The Public Theater, The Vineyard Theatre, and American Ballet Theatre.

QUINN CORCORAN | Teaching Artist

Quinn Corcoran is originally from Pennsylvania, where he grew up performing in theatre from a young age. He moved to New York to pursue his passion of performing and graduated from Pace University in downtown Manhattan with a BA in Acting together under the International Performance Ensemble. His journey has taken him to schools and universities across the country where he has engaged young people with educational theatre. He has even performed in Bangkok, Thailand! His first love, though, was always singing and music! Besides being an instrumentalist and music director, he is also a director, a playwright, and a composer.

Quinn is excited to be joining the Spotlight team to help inspire the creativity and curiosity of children through the magical world of theatre!

Our Stage

Located in downtown Manhattan, Tribeca

104 Reade St. Basement Floor

New York, NY 10013