Healing TREE Gala 2022 Live in NYC and Online

Grammy, Tony and Emmy-nominated and International Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, actress, and producer N’Kenge has incredible rang that is virtually Unmatched. She has been heralded by the New York Times as “a classically trained diva that can stretch from Broadway to Pop, Soul and Opera.” After making her Broadway debut in Sondheim on Sondheim, N’Kenge originated the role of Mary Wells in
Motown: The Musical, which the NY Post called “ELECTRIFYING.” As a vocal soloist, N’Kenge has performed jazz, pop, and opera concerts on renowned stages around the globe, such as Opera Estate in Italy, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Madison Square Garden and performed for Presidents and Dignitaries, including President Clinton and President Obama. N’Kenge has also won nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical for her roles in the Elton John/Tim Rice musical, Aida, and in Marion Caffey’s 3 Mo’ Divas. N’Kenge starred in the Broadway revival of the Tony Award-nominated and Olivier Award-winning musical Caroline, or Change, at the legendary Studio 54. Later this year, N’Kenge will star in Broadway bound musical that she also conceived and produced on the life and legacy of the groundbreaking actress, Dorothy Dandridge. N’Kenge wrote and created Forever Summer- a Tribute to Donna Summer that is slated for a premier at Carnegie Hall next season. N’Kenge has developed a new TV musical series, Black Butterfly, that she created as well as co-wrote with award-winning writer Mary McCallum and is co-producing the show with TV producer Gina Goff. With all of her life achievements and accolades, N’Kenge shows no signs of slowing down. Watch out for this incredible multi-talented artist coming to a stage near you!

Fran Kranz wanted to be an actor ever since he landed a leading role in his 9th grade play. He has worked consistently as a professional actor ever since. Fran can now be seen in the HBO Max series, Julia, created by Chris Keyser and starring Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child.

Kranz recently turned his creative attention to writing and directing with his debut feature film MASS, starring Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Ann Dowd and Reed Birney. The film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and was released by Bleecker Street Films on October 8, 2021. MASS received the prestigious Robert Altman Award from the 2022 Spirit Independent Film Awards. Previously, Kranz produced and starred opposite Lily Rabe and Finn Wittrock in an adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which premiered at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival.

Kranz stars in the upcoming independent thriller Half Lives. He also co-stars in another upcoming thriller, They Whisper, as well as in the Mary Pickford biopic Why Not Choose Love: A Mary Pickford Manifesto, opposite Cary Elwes and Sophie Kennedy Clark. His other feature credits include The Dark Tower, opposite Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, the Netflix film Rebirth, Mojave, opposite Garrett Hedlund and Oscar Isaac, The Truth About Lies, the horror comedy Bloodsucking Bastards, The Living, Last Weekend, opposite Patricia Clarkson, Murder of a Cat, opposite J.K. Simmons and Greg Kinnear, Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, The Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard and produced by Whedon, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men, The TV Set, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, Orange County, Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day and Donnie Darko.

On television, Kranz most recently recurred in Showtime’s Roger Ailes series The Loudest Voice starring Russell Crowe and Amazon’s Homecoming created by Sam Esmail and starring Julia Roberts. Kranz is also well-known for playing the role of ‘Topher,’ the sarcastic, tech wunderkind, on Joss Whedon’s FOX sci-fi series Dollhouse, alongside Eliza Dushku. He also played the lead role in the CBS comedy series Welcome to the Captain, created and directed by John Hamburg. Other television credits include Ballers, Major Crimes, Elementary, The Good Wife, Dallas, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Private Practice and Frasier.

Kranz starred on Broadway opposite Rose Byrne and James Earl Jones in the much-praised revival of You Can’t Take it With You. He made his Broadway debut in director Mike Nichols’ Death of a Salesman, opposite Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield, which won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. In 2017, Fran starred as ‘Merle Debuskey’ in the world premiere of Illyria, written and directed by Richard Nelson, at the Public Theater. He also starred in the critically acclaimed staging of Bachelorette at the Second Stage Theatre Off-Broadway.

Kranz attended high school at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, where he was active in theater, and also studied at the prestigious Oxford Tradition program, where he won a Best Actor Award for his portrayal of ‘Petruchio’ in The Taming of the Shrew. Fran went on to Yale University, where he was a member of the improv troupe “The Ex!t Players”, and performed in such plays as Angels in America, A Bright Room Called Day, Henry IV, Antony & Cleopatra, and Twelfth Night.

From the Bronx to Broadway and beyond, Tony Nominee Jeannette Bayardelle has traveled to over fifty countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, sharing her gift. She is the founder and CEO of Broadway to Wall Street. Jeannette  wrote and starred in SHIDA the Musical and I Take Thee Zoe the web series. Other credits include: Broadway – Girl From The North Country (Mrs. Neilsen), Hair (Dionne), The Color Purple (Celie).  Off Broadway – Rock of Ages, Girl From The North Country, SHIDA. National Tours/Regional – The Color Purple, Deaf West’s Big River, Rent. Film – Disney’s Little Mermaid Arial’s Beginning.

Erikka Walsh is an actor and multi-instrumentalist. Broadway: Once (Original Broadway Cast). Select Off Broadway and regional credits include Anna Karenina: a Riff (Notch Theatre Co), Indecent (Pittsburgh Public Theater), Red Roses Green Gold (featuring the music of the Grateful Dead), Ring of Fire (Capital Repertory Theatre), Striking 12 (SpeakEasy Stage Company). Alice vs. Wonderland (American Repertory Theater), Romeo and Juliet, Pericles (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre). Film/TV: New Amsterdam, The Deuce. Erikka holds an MFA from the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University and BA from Temple University.

Taylor was born into a film family. Born in Los Angeles, he grew up in South Florida, and now calls New York City home. Taylor has appeared on Magic City, Chicago Fire, and Burn Notice, to name a few. He currently plays Kelly Moran on CBS’s FBI. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Rachel, and their dog Harry.

Arjun Gupta’s most recent independent feature Deborah opposite Sophia Bush and Deborah Ann Woll will be released November 1st.  He starred as the fan-favorite character of ‘Penny’ in all five seasons of SyFy’s hit show The Magicians, based on the highly popular book-series.  Gupta starred in the independent feature The Hungry, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, and was featured in Love Beats Rhymes opposite Queen Latifah.  He recurred as ‘Kan’ on the ABC series How to Get Away with Murder opposite Viola Davis, was in the pilot episode of CBS’s Limitless, and for three years starred as ‘Sam’ on Showtime’s hit show Nurse Jackie opposite Edie Falco. He made his feature film debut opposite Uma Thurman in Motherhood.  Other film credits include The Diabolical (which premiered at SXSW), the Lifetime original movie Baby Sellers, Harebrained starring Brendan Fraser, and Stand Up Guys opposite Al Pacino. On stage, Arjun produced and starred in Dead Fish at the HERE Arts Center in New York. He also founded Ammunition Theatre company in LA and produced several plays including Judgment of Fools. He also created a podcast with Akaash Singh called American Desis which can be found on all platforms. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch.

Dana is a writer, actor, and transgender media consultant. Favorite acting credits include, television: Toni Rykener in American Gods (Starz), Sadie Lipton in The Good Fight (CBS All Access), film: Hazel in Adam (dir. Rhys Ernst, Sundance, 2019), Jess in The Dress You Have On (dir. Courtney Hope Thérond). Favorite theatrical writing credits include: MADAME (story, music, lyrics), 5th Republic (story, music, lyrics), and LUDO’s Broken Bride (additional story). Dana’s theatrical work has been supported by the Musical Theater Factory, NYMF, Ars Nova, Prospect Theater Company, and Broadway au Carré in Paris. Recently, she was a staff-writer on a show in development with ViacomCBS. Dana has also written extensively about trans issues and Jewish issues for publications such as Nylon, Huffington Post, Women’s Health, and Jewcy. She was a Dramatists Guild Fellow, and a finalist for the 2019 Sundance Episodic Lab. Her pilot script, FRAUD was selected by the GLAAD List, in association with the Black List, as one of the top eight un-produced LGBTQ pilots of this year. Most recently, she can be seen in the upcoming Netflix film The Gray Man, directed by the Russo Brothers and starring Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling, as well as the short film, FRAUD, based on her pilot of the same name which had its world premiere in the narrative shorts competition at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Jarran Muse starred as Marvin Gaye on Broadway and in the National Touring productions of Motown the Musical. He then reprised the role on the Tour of Pride & Joy, The Marvin Gaye Musical. He was recently seen in the World Premier’s of A Jolly Holiday with Disney on Broadway, Grace the Musical at the Ford’s Theater in DC and in Bojangles of Harlem, where he starred as Bill Bojangles Robinson.

His other Broadway credits include the Original cast of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, and Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of The Temptations.
He’s toured the world with the Broadway productions of Green Day’s American Idiot, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, and 42nd Street; along with Neil Berg’s 50 Years of Rock N Roll, The “100 Years of Broadway” concert, and onboard Norwegian Cruise Line. Offstage, Jarran studies Meditation Based Stress Reduction and is the founder of Broadway Meditates offering free guided group meditation sessions, while hosting and facilitating Meditation groups worldwide. He’s currently finishing up his Creative Writing degree from Full Sail University so he will have the tools to write and produce movies, TV shows, and theater.

It’s easy to feel like there’s not much magic left in the world, especially after the turbulence of 2020. It was a long, hard year for everyone, not least for those who make or work in music and who saw the entire industry essentially collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic. In early March of that year, every member of Jeremy & The Harlequins got sick with Covid-19. Soon after, they parted ways with their record label. It would have been easy to be discouraged – or even throw in the towel – in the face of such devastating, world-altering circumstances, but that was never an option for the New York City band. Rather, frontman Jeremy Fury responded by making the band’s new album an exercise in overcoming extreme adversity.

“I had to believe that we’re destined for something better than what was and still is happening,” says Fury. “Because there is a spirit of life and joy and happiness that you see sometimes in the darkness. When the pandemic first hit, for example, there was a lot of coming together, especially in New York.”
That coming together was something he felt was especially powerful and important, and wanted to be a part of. In the summer, once they’d recovered from the virus, he and guitarist Craig Bon would put on their own impromptu outdoor gigs.

“Before we even started rehearsals to record the album, Craig and I would go out into the parks and play music on an acoustic guitar,” Jeremy recollects. “It was partly to spread some joy because there’s a pandemic, but it was also because there’s nowhere else to play. We figured we had a choice: you can let the darkness overtake you, or you can find a way – while still being safe about it – to create some light in that darkness.”

ABRA CaDaBRA, then, is the band’s biggest and most important mission statement to date. It not only shows that there’s always a path back into the light, but that you can also be that light yourself. So while this album acknowledges the bleakness, there’s also always an attempt by the band – completed by Stevie Fury (drums and percussion), Geoff ‘Eggs’ Bennington (guitar) and Nathan Cogan Post (bass, piano, farfisa and mellotron) – to move away from it. That’s an attitude Fury has been channeling for a number of years now, and one that reached its pinnacle with these songs. Indeed, while the majority of this album was written during the pandemic, the seeds had already been planted before. “World On Fire” is a perfect case in point. A dark, portentous tune that sits literally and metaphorically at the center of the album, its apocalyptic musical and lyrical overtones – sleek and seductive in equal measure – are an accurate reflection of the world today. Yet its origins began a little time before.

“We wrote that soon after the [2016] election happened,” says Fury, “when there were also forest fires in California. There was so much disenchantment and civil unrest, even back then, which now seems forever ago. It seems like nothing in comparison to this past year, but that sentiment was there. So it felt like the world was burning to me in 2017 – I sensed a lot of anger and confusion then, so fast forward a few years and it feels all that much more magnified.”

Capturing that essence in song would be a challenge for anyone, but doing so was something that Jeremy & The Harlequins relished. After all, they had nothing but time on their hands. They decided that they were going to make the best of a bad situation by writing the album they’d always wanted to make, matching the severity of the situation with the most grandiose and ambitious songs they’d ever written. It’s that situation which, ultimately, inspired the album’s title.

“The term ABRA CaDaBRA comes from the Hebraic and Aramaic phrase ‘I create as I speak’,” explains Fury. “It took more than money, ambition and man hours to make this record – it took an element of magic. It felt as if the universe conspired as if to say ‘The time is now. Walk through the door.’”
The fact the band were paying for it out of their own pockets only made them even more determined to get it exactly right.

“Because we had no deadlines from the label and we weren’t doing shows,” says Jeremy, “we just thought ‘Let’s do everything we’ve ever wanted to do on a record. I don’t know how we’re going to pay for it, but we can worry about that later!’ We were almost thinking about it as if this was our first ever album – what would we want that to sound like? And we also wanted to write something that, if you’d never heard of us before, would be able to stand on its own.”
That’s precisely what they did. Yet while the band might have approached writing these songs as if they were for their first album, the acclaim and attention their previous records garnered – including support from Bruce Springsteen’s longtime E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt – helped them achieve that goal. In fact, most of the album was recorded at Van Zandt’s New York Renegade Studios by Geoff Sanoff (Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven, Jesse Malin), although the vocals were recorded, mixed and mastered – like 2017’s Remember This – by Rick Parker (Lord Huron, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Scott Weiland) at Sandbox Studios in Hollywood. That’s a dream combination in itself, but the band didn’t just stop there. They also enlisted Hamilton’s lead violinist Jonny Dinklage to add strings, while Ben Jaffe and Steve Garcia played tenor sax and trumpet, respectively.

The result is a lush, orchestral, widescreen vision of all of life’s ups and downs, pandemic or otherwise. There’s the romantic swell of opener “It Won’t Be Love”, the carefree swagger and salvation of “One Shot (Of Rock’N’Roll)”, and the forlorn, dramatic noir nostalgia of “Afterlife”. And that’s just the first three songs. There’s also the haunting desperation and moody heartache of “Let Me Out Of You” – replete with a breathtaking falsetto in the chorus – showcase just how well the band can soundtrack pure emotion, immediately and deliberately offset by the sleazy, late night ’80s anthemic rock of “You Gotta Be Bad” that follows right after. Elsewhere, the playful country of “Don’t Take Debbie Away” pays homage both to artists like Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson and Glen Campbell and the “cowboy spirit” adopted by the band when they started using bandanas as facemasks, “Murdered Me” is an ode to classic ’50s romantic ballads (and the broken hearts that go with them), and “Looking Out My Window” – the last song written for the record – laments the devastating effects the pandemic has had on New York City, the place the band still calls home.

Yet overall, it’s the sense of defiance that wins out – one found in the connection that still exists with friends, with loved ones and lovers, and within the overwhelming strength and resolve of the human spirit. That very spirit overpowers final track “November Night”, which ends ABRA CaDaBRA with a rush of euphoric redemption that Bruce Springsteen would be proud of. That Jeremy & The Harlequins have been able to infuse this album with that spirit, all on their terms, makes this album all the more impressive, powerful and – true to its title – magical.

“Twenty years ago,” says Fury, “you wouldn’t have been able to make this record for how much we made it for, and we wouldn’t be able to get the studio and the people we had working on it 20 years ago if we didn’t have a label. So it’s pretty incredible now what you can do on your own if you save a little bit of money to create something that you believe in. It goes to show that the spirit is still alive – you just have to make it happen.”

Erica Spyres is an actor, singer, and fiddle player who originated the role of Amelia Tiggens in Paradise Square on Broadway. Also on Broadway, she covered Julie and Carrie and was an ensemble member in Carousel, and played Ex-Girlfriend in the 1st National Tour of Once. Internationally, she appeared as Clara in the Parisian premiere of Sondheim’s Passion opposite Natalie Dessay conducted by Andy Einhorn at the Théâtre du Châtelet. She has soloed with several orchestras including the Boston Pops, Midland Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony, Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Viennese Opera Ball Orchestra. Erica can be heard in Schmigadoon and Last Week Tonight, and on Sondheim Unplugged Vol. 1 & 2. In 2021, she was commissioned to produce her own cinematic cabaret, Daydreamer’s Carnival, for The Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Erica has received an Elliot Norton Award for Tribes and IRNE Awards for The Light in the Piazza, Avenue Q, and Camelot. In addition to performing, Erica loves coaching high schoolers for My College Audition, and enjoys exploring NYC with her husband, Drew, and cat, Bastian.

Sam is an actor, writer, and musician. Audiences have seen him on Broadway in Carousel, on the national tours of My Fair Lady and The King and I, and on regional stages across the country. Originally from Ashburnham, MA, he’s a proud product of the public school system—and an even prouder son and brother of three excellent educators. He lives in Harlem with his roommate and their plants.

Marissa Ghavami is an Iranian-American, queer artist, advocate and creator based in New York City. She founded Healing TREE in 2014 and serves as the nonprofit’s Executive + Artistic Director. Her advocacy work has led her to giving educational and inspirational public speaking engagements on abuse, trauma and healing across the country. These engagements span post show talk-backs, workshops, breakout speeches, keynotes and Continuing Education Units (to doctors, nurses, psychologists, therapists and social workers). She led a virtual event for The Mighty, a popular mental health community with a Facebook following of nearly 1.5 million. She is also a healing trauma-focused coach and consultant for individuals and organizations (specializing in artists and artistic organizations and projects).

As an actor, Marissa’s film and television highlights include starring in the feature film The Gift of Christmas alongside Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison and Dee Wallace (E.T.), as well as roles in Paramount’s theatrically released feature film Not Fade Away, directed by David Chase and starring James Gandolfini, and on CBS’s Without A Trace. She first gained national attention singing on NBC’s legendary It’s Showtime at the Apollo. She was seen on stage as the lead in the Off-Broadway staged reading of They Told Me To Use It at the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival directed by Ren Dara Santiago. Regionally, she has played Belle in Beauty and the Beast opposite Ross Lekites. She has sung at NYC hotspots Joe’s Pub, Birdland (alongside Academy Award Winner and Tony Nominee Ariana DeBose) and 54 Below. She has done voice over, commercial and print for such widely known brands as Audible (narrating Dr. Jamie Marich’s Trauma and the 12 Steps and Transforming Trauma with Jiu-Jitsu), McDonald’s, Ford, JCPenney, Belvedere, PepsiCo’s AMP Energy Drink, Girl Scout Cookies and Kentucky Fried Chicken. Marissa trained as an actor at the William Esper Studio under the renowned, late Bill Esper, has studied Advanced On Camera with Bob Krakower and takes ongoing acting classes with Karl Bury. She trained as a singer with the acclaimed Seth Riggs, Liz Caplan and, currently with Mike Ruckles.

Marissa co-produced the Healing TREE partner feature film Mass (by Fran Kranz, starring Emmy Award winner Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Emmy and Tony Nominee Martha Plimpton and Tony Award Winner Reed Birney) which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, was acquired by Bleecker Street Films, hit theatres October of 2021 and is currently streaming. Mass is the Winner of the Robert Altman Award and is a Gotham, Critics Choice and BAFTA nominee.

Marissa co-wrote and was the lead producer on the short film Silk, which was directed by John Magaro (Carol, The Big Short) and is an Official Selection at the Academy Award qualifying Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture series, among others. She also developed and leads a workshop on the most insidious red flags of abuse and trauma built around Silk for Healing TREE.

Marissa was a Director’s Pick for a 2020 (postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19) Queer Writer Fellowship at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. She is a 2015/2016 ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty) Fellow and participant in the 2015 Artist As Citizen Conference at Juilliard. She is passionate about meditating, reading, veganism and fitness, and is a cat mom to her two rescue Bengal mixes, Sebastian and Viola.

www.marissaghavami.com | @marissaghavami

Emily is best known for her roles as Maureen Kukudio in Orange Is the New Black (2013), Kiki Page in Licorice Pizza (2021) and Nicole Carter in 61st Street (2022/23 on AMC). She has numerous acting credits in television and film including The Handmaids Tale, Blindspotting, Blue Bloods, Law and Order: SVU, The Magicians, The Resident, among others. She made her Broadway debut in the 2012 revival of Harvey.