EPISODE 1
OUR HOST
Sophia Carvalho, on-camera host, is an actor, singer, dancer, poet, and a recent graduate of Adelphi University’s Acting Program. Sophia’s recent roles include Jacie TripleThree in Comic Potential, #25 in The Wolves, and Louise in Miss Direction, as well as Fight Directing The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Sophia was recently hired as Assistant Fight Directing for FUKT by Emma Goldman-Sherman at The Tank, and will be singing at 53 above in The Dream Jukebox Cabaret. Sophia says she is “thrilled to be working on the Sunset Park Railroad to present “Story Time Under The Grandma Tree.
PRESENTERS
JUDY HIGALDO BAUTISTA OF THE “AZTECA”Photo shot by Harry Mena 2022
“An Aztec Message Lives' 'by Judith Bautista Hidalgo, 34, an indigenous native woman living in Sunset Park, will be accompanied by her husband and son to share an Aztec tale of her own about the last Emperor and his message to his people. Audiences will learn about the Aztec culture and hear her sing about Grandparents while playing the sacred drum. This first segment will start with her offering a blessing for the Grandma Tree, providing a scene that might have appeared just as it would have before the arival of Europeans.
Anita Castillo-Halvorssen is a Norwegian actor, singer, and educator, will begin our Norwegian segment. First, she will perform a folk song without music while wearing a Bunad (Traditional National Dress). Next, she will conjure up the spirits of 19-century authors/folklorists Engebretsen Moe and Peter Christen Asbjørnsen before telling two of their tales from their famous collection "Norwegian Folk Tales," a landmark in Norwegian literature. Anita will delight our audience with: “The Pancake Chronicles” She will sing and act out some of the dialogue. Our audience will then be treated to a sing-along that Anita has prepared for them.
A Brooklyn resident but originally from Colorado, she recently graduated from Brown University's MFA acting program at Trinity Rep. Anita is a faculty artist for the Beyond The Page program at Middlebury College and a Rhode Island Latino Arts teaching artist. She is a producer and ensemble member of the womxn's creative collective, The Hive and an artistic collaborator of the Norwegian Seamen's Church in New York. Currently, you can catch her in Harlem (Amazon Prime), Law & Order (NBC), and The Good Fight (CBS). Anita has appeared regularly in Red Bull Theater's Off-Broadway readings of Spanish Golden Age plays.
Pamela is a formidable presence in the realm of creative music. She is an accomplished vocalist, violist and violinist. She received a Professional Diploma at the Mannes College of Music of The New School in NYC, and a Teaching Artist Certification from Teachers College at Columbia University.
Pam is also a certified teacher and instructor for the Connor Method American School for String Players, a violin and theory teacher for the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance in New York City and has been the Jazz violin instructor for the Middle School Jazz Academy for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Her greatest experiences, however, have come in the professional performance field. Pam has performed here and abroad for over forty years. She has performed and shared the stage with a variety of luminaries from the Jazz world (like Spiro Gyra, Earl Klugh, Stephan Grappelli), R&B groups, such as Al Green, WAR, and Grand Funk Railroad, with recording artists Bette Midler, Eric Burdon (of the Animals) and others, and Gospel artists including CeCe Winans, Shirley Caesar, Bishop Hezekiah Walker and Donnie McClurkin. Pamela also leads her band, appropriately named The Pam Hamilton Group She has played violin and viola in opera companies, classical quartets and ensembles and recording sessions. During the holiday season this year, she will be performing in the orchestra for the Night of Inspiration Gospel Concert at Carnegie Hall.
Production Crew:
Harry Mena, Producer/Director/Photographer, began Mena Mountain Productions Inc to provide the missing images in mainstream popular culture that will counter the negative stereotypes that are prevalent. His 20 years with James Lipscomb inc, an independent producer of documentary specials, has taught him how to tell a story. He has won a Blue Ribbon for best cultural film from the American Film Festival for co-producing the "Subterraneans' ' which was also nominated for an EMMY in photography. Notably, Harry is a fiscally sponsored artist of Fractured Atlas for his project, "The Sunset Park Railroad," a community building project. Harry is known to say, “We are creating a movement that delivers images that will crash through walls of hatred, misogyny, bigotry, and bring people together in public spaces.” ALL ABOARD!”
Sarai A. Mena, Associate Producer
Sarai Mena strives to make a positive impact in both the community she was born and raised in by drawing on her background in Environmental studies to advocate for the preservation of public spaces and access to equitable education for all. Both a makeup artist and a scientist, she aims to blend science and art wherever possible, especially in informal education settings.
Raymel Casamayor, Sound Engineer, is an artist, sound director, designer, and music editor. He studied for ten years at the Conservatory of Music in Havana-Cuba. He graduated in sound recording and design from the department of Media and Cinema at the Superior Institute of Arts. Raymel has collaborated on fiction feature films, documentaries and short films in Cuba, Latin America, Miami, and New York.
Juan Carlos Alom In 2000, Time Magazine selected Juan Carlos among the 10 Latin American photographers of the millennium. His most recent personal shows include: “Lines of Desire XIII Havana Biennial, 2019; “Cuban Analogs,” Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts and UCONN, Connecticut, 2017. In 2018, his 16mm films were screened as part of ISMO, ISMO, and ISMO, the highlights of Experimental Cinema of Latin America and the Caribbean at Echo Park Film Center, LA, California. In addition, his work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA, California; Ludwig Forum for International Art, Germany; Pachuca photo library, Mexico; PAMM, Miami, FL.