AUTHOR'S NOTE + SYNOPSIS
AUTHOR'S NOTE + SYNOPSIS
CREATIVE COLLABORATORS
This work has been developed with Creative Associates under the umbrella of 5DMEDIALAB, LLC
Book, Lyrics + Music – Leonard Dolivio Cetrangolo
Additional Music – Associate Composer Spencer Teeter
Creative Partner + Artistic Advisor – David Silverman
Interim Arrangements – Gary Adler
Script Consultants – Felirene Bongolan and Patricia Cotter
Race + Gender Advisor – Dr. Kathleen Tarr
Complex Trauma + Dissociative Identity Advisor – Dr. H L Schwartz
Author
Book, Lyrics & Music
LEONARD DOLIVIO CETRANGOLO
THE PLAY'S INSPIRATION:
IMAGINARY GIRL was conceived while working as the lead editor of The Alchemy of Wolves and Sheep * by Dr. H. L. Schwartz. This book made a significant contribution to the psychotherapy literature illuminating “brainwashing” “internalized perpetration” and “identification with the aggressor” along with other ways trauma victims are manipulated into betraying their own moral limits.
( * Winner of the 2017 international Sandor Ferenczi Prize awarded by
The Intl Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation [SST&D];
Routledge, 2013 )
AUTHOR'S COMMITMENT TO ADVOCACY:
Leonard 's commitment to advocacy for victims who've suffered the harms and psychological dilemmas presented in IMAGINARY GIRL is rooted in his unusual childhood in rural Vermont (where he attended one-room-school-houses with both his brothers in-the-same-room).
He was born into a multi-ethnic-immigrant-family with a legacy of transgenerational-trauma-and-poverty whose malevolent patriarch cruelly manipulated family members to act-out physical and psychological abuses on the others − forms of BRAINWASHING, GASLIGHTING, and PUPPETING central to this play's story.
In spite of these challenges, he is first member of his family to attend college (not one of his four grandparents attended high school). He self-financed his studies at Parsons School of Design, focusing on drawing, painting, art history, and design. Then he received a full merit scholarship to attend NYU Tish School of The Arts where he graduated magna cum laude with top honors.
PROFESSIONAL BIO:
Leonard’s leadership of 5DMEDIALAB has been shaped by his accumulated expertise across multiple creative disciplines:
REWRITER / GHOSTWRITER of Studio & Indie FEATURE FILMS:
While performing work-for-hire Screenwriting, Ghostwriting, and Script Doctoring for Oscar-winning directors and performers, Leonard became valued for his rare ability to devise tight story structures and compelling visual narratives – and then synthesize them into singular storyworlds.
His work has included rewrites for OSCAR-winning director JOHN SCHLESINGER (produced – MADONNA, RUPERT EVERETT, PAUL GIAMATTI, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS) and OSCAR-nominated director LASSE HALLSTROM (produced – JULIA ROBERTS, ROBERT DUVALL, GENA ROWLANDS).
He Co-Wrote a TV pilot commissioned by exec-producer/director ROLAND EMMERICH (unproduced), and Co-Ghost-Authored the adaptation of a PHILIP K. DICK novel into a feature film (produced).
VISUAL STORYTELLER / PRODUCTION DESIGNER:
Leonard created world-class production values with his concert stage sets, music video sets and album cover sets for rock and pop stars – including: JOAN JETT, THE RAMONES, LOU REED, JAMES BROWN, STING, GEORGE MICHAEL, and DAVID BOWIE.
He Art Directed and Designed “the look” of high-end fashion advertising, worldwide print campaigns & TV commercials – including: LOUIS VUITTON, COACH LEATHER, L’OREAL, REVLON, LEVIS, ADIDAS, BERGDORF GOODMAN, CARTIER, TIFFANY, and GUCCI.
In collaboration with World-Class Photographers, Leonard designed environments for editorial fashions and celebrity portraiture for the leading lifestyle and fashion publications – including: VANITY FAIR, DETAILS, VOGUE, HARPER’S BAZAAR, PREMIER, ROLLING STONE, GQ, NEWSWEEK, HIGH TIMES, THE NEW YORK TIMES
WRITER-DIRECTOR of Award-Winning Short Film:
With his own short film, The Paris Crystal (writer/director) he received national and international awards; it aired repeatedly for several years on SHOWTIME.
STORY ARCHITECT + AWARD-WINNING INFORMATION-PLATFORM CONCEPT DESIGNER:
As Story Architect & Game Designer he has engineered manifold narrative pathways and alternative storytelling practices for THE TRANSMEDIA GAME COMPANY LUDINC in BERLIN, GERMANY.
Leonard won the $25K FIRST PLACE PRIZE in BEARINGPOINT’S INNOVATION AWARD INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION for his original knowledge-banking system, and technology platform, concept.
LEADER of 5DMEDIALAB
5DMEDIALAB is named for its commitment to the SYNTHESIS of FIVE DIMENSIONS: INSTINCT, VISION, VOICE, EMOTION + MEANING. www.5dmedialab.com
Leonard lives with his husband in San Francisco.
Associate Composer
& Additional Music
SPENCER TEETER
Spencer released his first solo album as a teenager. Several songs from his follow-up albums have charted on Canadian radio and continue to receive airplay. In addition to his own music career, Spencer has worked as a co-songwriter with other recording artists. He has also performed professionally as an actor in Canadian and American indie films and a US television series, as well as in American national TV commercials.
As a key contributor to IMAGINARY GIRL, Spencer merges indie rock with poignant storytelling in order to capture the attention of audiences who may not normally be drawn to traditional musical theater.
Interim Arranger
& Interim Music Director
GARY ADLER
Gary was the Music Director of AVENUE Q (Best Musical - TONY AWARD WINNER) for all six years of its Broadway run. He arranged the dance music for the Jimmy Buffett’s Broadway musical, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. Gary received two 2005 Drama Desk nominations as the co-writer of the music and lyrics for the Off-Broadway hit ALTAR BOYZ. Other New York playing/conducting credits include THE FANTASTICKS, IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU, NUNSENSE, URINETOWN, HAIRSPRAY & KINKY BOOTS.
Arts Activist
Dramaturg & Consultant
FELIRENE (FE) BONGOLAN
For the past 35 years, Fe has been the Principal Dramaturg for Rhodessa Jones’s award-winning & internationally recognized “THE MEDEA PROJECT: Theater for Incarcerated Women.” An arts program using THEATER AS A VEHICLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE.
The Medea Project methodology reinterprets Ancient Myth for the present day, (Persephone in the case of Imaginary Girl) and places the woman at the center of her own story.
Consultant on Race &
Gender Representation
DR. KATHLEEN TARR
Kathleen is a Harvard Law School graduate and former human & civil rights attorney. She lectures at Stanford University on race and gender representation in The entertainment industry, including her series "Bias and The Business of Show."
She works closely with the team to identify improved methods for incorporating socio-political issues of class, race, inequality, advocacy, and activism – with consideration for the narrative’s use of moral ambiguity, and its use of “charged” historical verbatim language.
Dramaturg
& Script Consultant
PATRICIA COTTER
Patricia (dramaturg, dramatist and librettist) is the recipient of the EMMY AWARD, The RICHARD RODGERS AWARD for musical theater, the Ovation Award & Garland Award, as well as a WGA AWARD.
Her work has been produced in Theatre works 17th Annual New Works Festival; The Actors Theatre of Louisville; Humana Festival; Chicago’s Jackalope Theatre; The Vineyard Theatre, among many others.
She has been a FINALIST at the 2016 O’NEILL NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE, and was a SEMI-FINALIST AT the 2018 O’NEILL NATIONAL PLAYWRIGHTS CONFERENCE.
Psychological Consultant
DR. HARVEY SCHWARTZ
Harvey is an internationally acknowledged clinical psychologist with a career dedicated to the treatment of survivors of Complex Trauma and Dissociative Identity, He is the author of two award-winning books on the psycho-dynamics of how trauma victims are manipulated into betraying their own moral limits.
He a Senior Clinician and Trainer, Sub-Investigator and Co-Therapist in MAPS-Sponsored Clinical Trials for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy.
Harvey is working with MAPS in its final phase for the FDA approval of the use of MDMA in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to treat PTSD and other treatment-resistant conditions.
Harvey is a Co-Founder of Polaris Insight Center (the first psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy clinic established in the US).
He is the Director of Training for Polaris Insight Training Program, which trains the next generation of psychotherapists to treat trauma with Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy.
Creative Partner
& Artistic Advisor
DAVID SILVERMAN
With a multidisciplinary background as a performer, educator, and painter, David has performed in professional theatre, television, radio and films. His debut stage performance was at the age of six in a community theater in Detroit.
As a professional actor, his feature film work has included one-on-one scenes performed with SIGOURNEY WEAVER and HOLLY HUNTER (Copycat, 1995); EDDIE MURPHY (Metro, 1997); and WILL SMITH (The Pursuit of Happyness [sic], 2006).
David , a fine arts painter, has had various solo and group exhibitions in Los Angeles and San Francisco, most notably inclusion in two juried group shows at The de Young Museum: A TRIBUTE TO GILBERT AND GEORGE (2008); and WARHOL AND BEYOND (2009).
As a youth arts educator, he worked for 12 years as a theatre an arts educator for at-risk and gifted children at private and public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in Portland, Oregon.
David's work as a muralist is a featured contributing artist in the internationally acclaimed book SAN FRANCISCO STREET ART: MISSION MURALISMO that documents three decades of the artistic, social, and political forces that shaped the San Francisco street art movement (Abrams, 2009).
Associate Producer
& Outreach Liaison
REBEKAH D. VEGA
Rebekah grew up in a Pentecostal religious cult where she was involved in producing music videos and live stage plays, including playing the role of Satan. After her spirited homeschooling, Rebekah reached out to a secular life beyond the cult, yet she remained an indoctrinated true believer in the transformative power of theatre. At college she studied musical theater and performed in numerous full-length shows. After seeing an early showcase of IMAGINARY GIRL in SF, Rebekah immediately fell in love with the show. She was inspired by it with themes of mind control and cult-like indoctrination, and how –at its core – its characters’ emotional conflicts are universal. Rebekah believes in the transformative power of theater to change lives.
THE BAY AREA ACTOR
PODCAST INTERVIEW
IN CONVERSATION WITH JIM JARRETT
Exploring The Backstory & Creative Process
Behind IMAGINARY GIRL
WE BELIEVE
Theatre is a form of magic
That stands between us and a hostile world
Theatre has metaphysical powers
It is not merely the making of an aesthetic product
Theatre offers us an alchemical vessel to transform our terrors
And for manifesting our dreams
By giving them story, color, shape, and meaning
Theatre at its very best helps us come to know our way forward, together, better
– 5DMEDIALAB
IMAGINARY GIRL: The Occupation of Patty Hearst – book, lyrics & music © Leonard Dolivio Cetrangolo