Company Biographies

Mark Lonergan — Artistic Director
Mark is a New York-based director/creator/producer, and the Artistic Director of Parallel Exit. With Parallel Exit, he has created seven original works and received several grants and awards. Mark's work has been seen in Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia, at festivals such as the COS Festival in Spain, the We Love Dance Festival in Japan, the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the U.S., and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland (Awarded: Spirit of the Fringe). In New York City, he has presented work at 59E59 Theaters, the Duke on 42nd Street, Symphony Space, the Guggenheim Museum, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Ars Nova, and PS 122. Mark is also co-Artistic Director of Rat-A-Tat-Tat with designer Steve Lucas, producing the Dora Award-winning Tequila Vampire Matine e and OBIE award winner Daniel MacIvor's JUMP . Currently, Mark is developing two new projects for Parallel Exit.  

Antoinette Dipietropolo — Creator/Choreographer
Antoinette is a dancer, performer and choreographer who has worked extensively across the country. For Parallel Exit, Antoinette choreographed, staged, and co-created POWERHOUSE. As a choreographer, she has worked on several national tours of Broadway shows, including Candide, Ragtime, Hair, and Rent, as well as regional productions of The Music Man, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Annie. As an associate choreographer, Antoinette recently completed working on Once On This Island for the Bay Street Theatre. As a performer, she is currently appearing in the national tour of Annie, and she recently appeared at Radio City Music Hall with Bernadette Peters.

Joel Jeske — Creator/Performer
Joel Jeske's professional clown career began with his graduation from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College class of 1996. He toured with the blue unit of The Greatest Show on Earth for three years and the elegant one ring circus, Barnum's Kaleidoscope, for one year. Joel has performed internationally and won awards as a clown and variety performer in England, Germany, Scotland, Canada, Mexico, and China. In New York, Joel is a member of the theatrical clown ensemble, The NY Goofs, and has performed in a number of television, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions. He makes his rounds in over six New York hospitals as Dr. Ya-dont-say for the Big Apple Circus Clown Care, and as supervisor for The Big Apple Circus After-School Program. Joel is a creator/performer for the physical theater company Parallel Exit and was most recently seen in their Off-Broadway Production CUT TO THE CHASE .  Joel also recently appeared as the Carnival Barker in the Big Apple Circus' production STEP RIGHT UP!

Ryan Kasprzak — Creator/performer
Ryan Kasprzak has teamed with Parallel Exit for several recent productions of THIS WAY THAT WAY including a critically acclaimed off-Broadway run and a trip to Spain to perform in the COS Festival of Mime and Physical Theater. Ryan appeared with Tony Award winner Sutton Foster in Broadway Under the Stars recorded live in Central Park for CBS television. He was recently nominated for a New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Choreography and performed as a soloist at the historic West Virginia Dance Festival. He has served as dance captain and soloist for the National and International companies of Fosse and has been honored to perform with such legendary entertainers as Liza Minelli, Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde, and the Nicholas Brothers. Ryan is also a member of the resident faculty at the Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa, Florida. Ryan recently appeared in Parallel Exit's CUT TO THE CHASE and the new tap show REVOLUTION at the Joyce Theater.

Steve Lucas — Resident Designer
Steve has designed sets and lighting for more than 200 productions of theatre, dance, and performance art. Though based in Toronto, his work has been seen in venues throughout Canada and the United States as well as London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Northern Ireland, Estonia, and Australia. For Parallel Exit, Steve has designed sets and lights for WHITE/NOISE/JUMP, VELOCITY, and the upcoming Penny's Worth. In designing for dance, he has worked with choreographers and companies like Christopher House, Peter Chin, Kate Alton , Peggy Baker, Mark Lonergan, Toronto Dance Theatre, Red Sky Performance, and The Guangdong Modern Dance Company of China. Steve is the artistic director of Theatre 2.0 with which he has conceived and directed several shows including the award winning BREATH[e] at the ICA in London , and performances for the SHADOW BALL at the Art Gallery of Ontario. He is also the Co-Artistic Director of Rat-A-Tat-Tat with which he recently commissioned, produced, and designed TEQUILA VAMPIRE MATINEE, which received the 2004 Dora Award for Best New Musical. Steve has been nominated for several of Canada 's most prestigious awards including the Simonvitch Prize in Theatre, the Pauline Mc Gibbon award, and the K.M. Hunter award. He has also received twenty seven Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and is honored to have received the award four times.

Brent McBeth — Creator/Performer
Brent McBeth is a proud member of Actor's Equity. After completing a B.F.A. in Musical Theater from Sam Houston State University, Brent toured internationally in Fosse, starring Ben Vereen and Ruthie Henshall. Recent credits include: Face The Music (City Center Encores); Cabaret (Emcee, New Hampshire Theater Award); Guys and Dolls (Harry the Horse); Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Cast Recording). Thanks to Mark, Ryan and Derek for all the tap jams.

Derek Roland — Creator/Performer
Derek began his dance training at Clark Academy of Performing Arts in Rochester and Buffalo, where he took Master classes from such tap greats as Savion Glover, Ted Levy, and Van "The Man" Porter. He received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Niagara University, and his credits include National Tours of Kiss Me Kate (Bill Calhoun), Showboat, Cinderella and Funny Girl, as well as the Italian Tour of West Side Story. New York Credits include NY Fringe Festival, American Theater of Actors, The York Theater, The Actors Playground, and The Merkin Concert Hall. Derek continues to study tap with teachers such as Barbara Duffy, Randy Skinner, Roxane Butterfly, Max Pollack and Jason Samuels Smith, and he regularly attends tap jams in New York. He has taught at Broadway Dance Center and Master Classes at Universities and Studio's across the US. He is currently creating a tap show with Parallel Exit Physical Theatre Company in Manhattan called TIME STEP and is on faculty at New Dance Group in NY.