Our People | Kitchen Theatre Company

STAFF

Emily Jackson (she/her)

Producing Artistic Director

Emily is an artist and organizer who gathers groups of humans together and shares well-made stories. She is thrilled to be back at Kitchen Theatre Company, previously having served as the Artistic Associate and Director of Audience Services. She has also served as the Artistic Director for Sanguine Theatre Company in New York City, has been a member of Lark Theatre’s Literary Wing, and has adapted the works of Italian playwright, Dacia Maraini.

Directing credits include for Kitchen Theatre Company: I and You, The Soup Comes Last, Physics Fair, Count Me In; for Holmdel Theatre Company: Little Women the Musical; for Cider Mill Playhouse: Urinetown, Stage Kiss; for Fordham University: Into the Woods; for Sanguine Theatre Company: Jessica; Hamlet Isn’t Dead: Julius Caesar.

Emily is a recipient of the Norma Fire Emerging Artist Award and a SALT Award for Best Actress for her performance in Peter and the Starcatcher.

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Emily received her BFA from The University of Oklahoma’s Peggy Dow Helmerich School of Drama. She is happy to be living in Ithaca with her husband, Tyler M. Perry, a lighting designer and theatre educator, two dogs, Frankie and Stella, and her children, Luma and Rocco, with whom Emily hopes to share her love of great stories.

Email: emily@kitchentheatre.org

Tyler M. Perry (he/him)

Director of Production

Tyler is an award-winning designer for theatre, television, and live events. At Kitchen Theatre Company he has designed over 30 main stage productions. Favorites include Bright Half Life, Throw Pitchfork, Peter and the Starcatcher, I and You, The House, and Opus. He has designed regionally at theatres including Florida Repertory Theatre, Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Northern Stage, and Hope Summer Repertory Theatre. For television, his work has been seen on BravoTV, Peacock, ABC, NBC Sports, Fox Sports 1, and many other networks. Tyler is the Assistant Lighting Designer for 2017 Broadway revival of Miss Saigon, and national tours of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and Beautiful: The Carol King Musical. Tyler is the Technical Theater Director at Riverdale Country School. BFA: Ithaca College, MFA: University of Idaho. www.tylermperrydesign.com

Email: tyler@kitchentheatre.org

Brendan Komala (he/him)

Technical Director

Brendan has been building sets (and other things) for KTC ever since the transition to the "new" building, building every set but one in the last 9 years. A transplant from the midwest where he worked primarily for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company (and a variety of smaller Chicago area groups), he worked for Cornell on arriving in Ithaca and now enjoys the KTC family and looks forward to our new adventures for this season.

Email: brendan@kitchentheatre.org

Jennifer Schilansky (she/her)

Production Stage Manager

Jen Schilansky (Production Stage Manager) Jen has been the resident stage manager for the Kitchen Theatre Company for over 65 Mainstage productions. KTC favorites include The Turnaway Play, Monsters of the American Cinema, A Boy And His Soul, The Royale, Ironbound, Throw Pitchfork, The Mountaintop, Paloma, The Whipping Man, Darian Dauchan’s Death Boogie and Brian Dykstra’s Selling Out. Based in Groton, NY, Jen spends most of her time working in Ithaca, NY, and spending time with her young daughter, Maya. Jen currently serves as the Development Coordinator for Walking on Water Productions. She has worked as the PSM for many of the local theatres including: The Hangar, Civic Ensemble, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Binghamton, and The Cherry Arts. Originally from the Hudson Valley, Jen has been an Equity member since 2007 and is a graduate of Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA.

Email: jen@kitchentheatre.org

Stiller Zusman (she/her)

Scenic Artist & Gallery Curator

Stiller began her scenic work in theater, designing and building sets for Buffalo Ensemble Theatre. At that time she was finishing an MFA in Sculpture at the University of Buffalo. Thirty years later, after several full careers in fine arts, teaching and clinical art therapy, she has been recruited back to theater.

Her exhibitions include shows at Albright Knox Gallery, where she received the Partners Press Award for Sculpture, Everson Museum, Hall Walls Gallery, Adrianne Adrian Fine Arts and more. Her work appears in private and public collections, including a permanent installation at the University of Wyoming. She has designed many studio workshops for the Museum of Modern Art in New York, taught sculpture at SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College. Her own gallery and teaching studio, Abovoagogo was on Seneca St, around the corner from the theater for many years.

“Painting all of the productions in the last season has been a fine adventure! I am delighted to continue my work in this vibrant community of artists.”

Rachel Lampert (she/her)
Artistic Director Emerita & Board Member

Rachel served as the Artistic Director from 1997 to 2017 and returned to lead the theater for the 2023-24 Season. During her tenure, she focused on expanding the repertory to include new plays, alternative theatrical formats, solo performances, movement-based work, and original musicals.

A strong advocate for young theater artists, she gave first-time directing opportunities to many young directors, primarily women, who continue to make theater nationwide. She championed playwrights by producing early-career writers on the KTC Mainstage. She broadened the audience's experience by inaugurating and producing the Kitchen Counter Culture series 2005-2010, devoted to BIPOC solo performers.

Her solo play The Soup Comes Last has been performed in NYC, and her original musical Precious Nonsense has had several productions. With composer Larry Pressgrove, she has written the book and lyrics for Tony & the Soprano, Bed No Breakfast, Comfort Food, and The Angle of the Sun. In 2018, after stepping down from her position as Artistic Director, she received the SALT Lifetime Achievement Award.

In Ithaca, she has choreographed and directed at the Hangar Theatre, choreographed for Ensemble X and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, and written and produced events for various not-for-profits. She served on the Board of INHS.

"I am grateful to the Ithaca and Tompkins County communities for their long-time encouragement and support in helping the Kitchen Theatre Company sustain itself and grow."

Email: rachel@kitchentheatre.org