Lost in Jamaica, Queens

The Shadow Box Theatre‘s Mission is to touch the minds and hearts of children through shadow and three-dimensional puppet-based theatre arts. SBT’s programs encourage creative exploration, and multicultural sharing, celebrate diversity, teach humanistic values such as how to deal with bullying and respecting individual differences, peaceful solutions, and appreciation of our earth. This is accomplished through an integrated program of performances given in our space and brought to your space, creative theatre arts workshops for children, teachers and parents, and Read-Aloud Picture Books with companion Read-Along/Move-Along audio as well as CDs and DVDs based on our musical puppet productions.

Jon Riddleberger is a NYC-based actor, puppeteer, filmmaker and teacher. His performance work can be seen in the Clifford the Big Red Dog feature film and the BAFTA-nominated television show Moon and Me. He recently finished work on a new Apple TV show called Hello Tomorrow! as a puppeteer and puppet captain. He has travelled the world with renowned theater companies such as Handspring Puppet Company, Dead Puppet Society, and more performing in amazing venues such as Versailles Palace and the Sydney Opera House. Jon had the privilege of performing in Derek Fordjour and Nick Lehane’s collaborative piece, Fly Away. He was recently in the NY Times critics pick Bill’s 44th (with future touring dates TBA). He puppeteered the horses in the North American and Japanese tour of War Horse. His award-winning film “The Memory Trade” was produced by Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams and has been seen in festivals around the country. He is currently in development for a new puppet series titled friend. Jon recently served as director of puppetry for Keelay Gipson’s new play demons. in a development workshop at New York Stage and Film. Jon is an adjunct teacher at NYU Tisch where he teaches puppetry to the drama students. You can find out more at: www.jonriddleberger.com

The Edge School of the Arts (ESOTA) was founded in 1996 and modeled after the prominent Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, which stood as a beacon of cultural and artistic excellence in Southeast Queens for almost 50 years.

Beverly Edge (our Facilities Manager), was among BJ’s first students, and Beverly’s daughters – Donna, Wendy, and Kerri followed in their mother’s footsteps. In 1993, Kerri formed the children’s dance ensemble KECDE! (kekda) within the walls of the BJCAC. When BJ’s health declined, Beverly, Donna, Wendy and Kerri decided they could best continue her legacy by opening their own school and the Edge School of the Arts opened its doors in September of 1996. The school is family owned, and operated by management and teachers with years of professional dance training and experience.

Over the past 25 years, ESOTA has dedicated itself to bringing the art of African American dance to young aspiring artists and both community and international audiences. Our Artistic Director, Kerri Edge, is a visionary and is creative mind behind the organization’s programming. She has created a repertoire of works that celebrate African-American achievement and the development and administration of creative arts programming that exposes young people to multiple art genres incorporated with academic concepts.

The mission of the Elite Marching Band of Queens, Inc. is to provide inner city youth aged 3 – 21 with a positive music experience. Our programs and methods are designed to foster pride in themselves, their community and globally; develop the skills that are necessary to work within and to survive in a cooperative work environment through teamwork; inspire them to achieve individual successes, to encourage self-esteem, leadership skills, and self-discipline; create a life-long appreciation for the performing arts and academic in and out of schools.

The components of our programs are designed to instill a greater commitment within the youth for serving their community, exposing them to the world outside of the physical limitations of their immediate neighborhoods, family knowledge and expectations, and creating a desire for and enhancing their chances of succeeding at and continuing with their learning, employment and life. The components are also designed to cultivate their social skills, including establishing goals and objectives, time management, providing peer instructions, conflict resolution amongst their peers, handling peer pressure and bullying.

Bassist Max Gouveia‘s music fuses Caribbean, classical and jazz elements into an all-force blend of collective improvisation.  Max studied bass with Jay Oliver, Steve Novosel and Calvin Jones. He is an experienced bassist working in a wide spectrum of settings with Lou Blackburn’s Mombassa, Luther Francois, Jerry Eastman and Frankie McIntosh. His recent album Major Matters, recorded in June 2021, explores universal themes representing the evolution of his musical journey