BECK KREFTING
     
Rebecca Krefting, who goes by “Beck,” is a doctoral candidate in American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.  She earned a BA in English and Psychology at the University of Alabama, Huntsville and an MA in Women’s Studies at Ohio State University.  Her research focuses on the comic performances of marginalized women in the twentieth century and her dissertation explores the way women use comedy in the service of social justice.  She is currently the Program Director for the African-American Studies Department and an Instructor at the University of Maryland.  She is the assistant director for the Comedy Club and has been teaching comedy to kids in many capacities for four years.  When she’s not cracking jokes or studying them, she enjoys swimming, riding horses, cooking and eating good food, walking her dog and singing in the shower (badly).

   
creating a gnome costume using daughter
(and former Comedy Club performer/techie Jennifer Bagdasian) as a model -
the rabbit ears were Jennie's, not the gnomes

ROBBIE McEWEN

(Official Bio under construction)

But we can tell you that, as a volunteer, she has raised over $40,000 in three years for the after school programs at Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School and has done extraordinary work coordinating the backstage action at many Comedy Club productions (as well as creating costumes and props).  A professional arts administrator, he has recently retired as Special Assistant to the Deputy Chairman at The National Endowments for the Arts.


modeling Mrs. Hacker's Chicken Costume

Austen Villemez (right)
Improv & Stand-up Comedy Performer,
Comedy Coach & Published Comedy Writer

bio under construction

Harry M. Bagdasian (Comedy Club co-founder and director) is a free-lance writer/director who has written for such diverse clients as Arena Stage, Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, Imagination Stage and the United States Army.  He has directed arena-sized productions, corporate events, musical comedies and sketch comedy reviews featuring gifted middle school students.  Singularly, and with co-authors Lisa Levin Itté, Austen Villemez, Rachel Shaina Bergstein and Mark Murray, Bagdasian has written hundreds of comedy sketches and short plays for young audiences.  A majority of these sketches have been published by Meriwether Publishing LTD Contemporary Drama Services and they have received over 3,000 productions across the US and Canada and abroad.  He has written, directed and produced award shows and celebrity galas starting with Tribute to Roger Stevens at Kennedy Center (1984) and the Inaugural Helen Hayes Awards at the National Theatre in 1985.    Prior to his free-lance career, he co-founded and led Washington, DC’s acclaimed New Playwrights' Theatre (NPT) for twelve years.  When legendary producer Joseph Papp moved Joselovitz’ HAGAR'S CHILDREN from NPT to Off-Broadway Bagdasian served as associate producer.  With Joselovitz, he has written a romantic comedy, “Love By The Numbers” (published by Samuel French 1995) and three plays for young audiences: “Journey To The World’s Edge, a folk tale in the Irish tradition,” Dramatic Publishing 2007  “Capture The Moon” (Dramatic Publishing 2001) and “Riddle Me A Prince,” which had music and lyrics by Lenny Williams and Bari Biern.  All have been produced by different theatres around the country.  More information at www.hbagdasian.com

              
With benefactor Larry Mintz & Beck Krefting       Structuring the script for "No Child Left ... where?"