PLAYWRIGHT/LYRICIST

Kristy Lin Billuni writes triumphant fiction, essays, and plays. With roots in sex work, queer activism, and sex ed, she has earned her living for twenty years as The Sexy Grammarian, teacher of bold, free, turned-on writers. A proud member of the San Francisco Playground Writer’s Pool and a Brady Fellow, Kristy’s prized stage credits include productions at an HIV clinic in the Castro and a leather bar in Chelsea. She lives with her heroic social worker wife in San Francisco.

COMPOSER/LYRICIST

Larry D. Lariosa is a queer filmmaker, singer, songwriter, and musician. The child of immigrant parents, his artistic process draws on both life experience and his 20+ years as a licensed mental health therapist. Under the pseudonym Atir, he self-produced five albums and has performed at local Bay Area venues. On stage, his credits include musical theater productions with Pacifica Spindrift Players, JB Productions, and CCSF's Theater Department. As a filmmaker, Larry wrote the score and self-produced his 2023 documentary, Searching for Kapwa, an exploration on colonialism and its impact on identity. He currently lives in Oakland, California with his partner/co-filmmaker Terry and their 3 chihuahuas.

MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS/LYRICIST

Tony Howard is a local singer/songwriter currently studying Vocals and Musical Theatre at Studio A.C.T. Tony has performed regularly in the Bay Area with independent Bay Area & Sacramento Theater & Event Company JB Presents and Vocalist/Music Theatre Director Keren Geiser Productions. He lives in San Francisco with his partner of 20 years, Anthony, who is a personal trainer.

JOHN

Andy Collins was introduced to live theatre when he was 12 at San Diego Junior Theatre and learned that he liked being on stage. Andy attended The School of Creative and Performing Arts with a focus on dance. Some credits include: Spring Awakening & Kinky Boots with Ray Of Light Theatre; Sail Away with 42nd Street Moon; Company, Assassins, Cabaret and Pageant with Cygnet Theatre; Pippin, Falsettos. She-Rantulas from Outer Space and Jeffrey with Diversionary Theatre; Gypsy, Passion and Parasite Dray with Ion Theatre.

TED

Jaron (any/all) is grateful to be supporting new work in the Bay after making the leap to SF from NYC. Recent credits include Fun Home (42nd Street Moon), Chess in Concert (Moon), Titanic in Concert (Moon), Sweeney Todd (Hillbarn Theater) and Ragtime (Berkeley Playhouse). New York credits: Awesome ‘80s Prom, Fabulous Pink Flamingos (Bistro Award Winner) and bare (Associate Director). Regional: Crazy for You (Ogunquit Playhouse), Meet John Doe (Goodspeed Opera House), The Buddy Holly Story (Foothills Theater). TV/Film: "Gossip Girl". Original Recording: Coming to My Senses. NYU Grad. Endless thanks to Josh - without his support I'd never have the courage to follow my dreams

CYPRESS

OAK

Lena Sibony (She/Her) is thrilled to be in The Trees. A Bay Area Native, after graduating from UCLA in 2021, she came back to the East Bay and jumped right into the vibrant theatre world here performing with multiple theatre companies throughout the Bay Area. Previous shows include Shoshana in December (Custom Made Theatre Co./Faultline Theatre) Indecent (SF Playhouse), and Anton in Show Business (Contra Costa Civic Theatre) as well as work with Town Hall Theatre and Crowded Fire Theatre Company. So much love to my friends and family.

JUNIPER

Sleiman is thrilled to be making his debut at ZSpace! Some notable roles include Charlie Price in Kinky Boots at Throckmorton Theatre, Gabe Goodman in Next to Normal at Pacifica Spindrift Players, Nino Quincampoix in Amelie at Masquers Playhouse, and Brad Majors in Rocky Horror at Marin Musical Theatre Company! You can also see him playing Roger in the upcoming production of Rent at Berkeley Playhouse! He is so honored to be a part of this project and eager for audiences to see the hard work put into the show!

SEQUOYAH

PAULI N. AMORNKUL is privileged to help water, feed, and shine light on this thoughtfully creative and impactful new work with Kristy, Claire, and a talented grove of artists. Pauli has worked with over a dozen Bay Area theatre companies, three dance companies, sang on two original cast recordings (Min Kahng, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, TBA award recipient), performed at Davies Symphony Hall, SF War Memorial Opera House…Offstage roles include: ice cream addict, medical epidemiologist, Asst. Prof. at UCSF…Next up: RoDance Company (SF International Arts Festival). May we each understand our deep, interconnection to one another and all living things.

MAGNOLIA

PIANO, ACOUSTIC GUITAR, VOCALS

PSILOSYBE

ELECTRIC GUITAR

Filmmaker by day, Christian Linaban is also a songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and sound engineer. He’s been making music since the late 90’s with now defunct Cebuano goth band “Shadowbox Serenade” who released their self titled debut album in 2007. He released a solo industrial album “Teetan” in 2014 through BOMBA Press and is currently signed with Cebu based label, Melt Records. He is now based in the California bay area where he is working on a heavy metal EP.

BAY LAUREL

BASS

Kumi Maxson has been been playing in pit groups for musicals since they were in high school. They studied double bass performance with jazz focus at UC Santa Cruz from 2015 to 2019, and moved from Santa Cruz to Oakland in 2023. Kumi is an active member of the Bay Area's improvised music scene.

CEDAR

DRUMS/PERCUSSION

Vicki Zalewski has been drumming for almost 60 years. It all started when her mother fashioned a drum out of a Folgers can and gave it to her for Christmas at age two. She was trained as a classical percussionist at the University of Wisconsin where she was known as the first woman snare drummer in the Wisconsin Marching Band. Since that time, Vicki has played in numerous bands and orchestras in the greater Bay Area. Most recently as a drummer in the Metropolitan Community Church gospel band and as a percussionist in the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony.

DIRECTOR

Claire Ganem is thrilled to be part of the tree team! She is a current company member and ambassador at Playground SF. In addition to Playground, her work has been featured at Cutting Ball Theatre, Pianofight, 3Girls Theatre, Left Coast Theatre, Town Hall Theatre, and Magic Theatre, where she was an artistic direction apprentice during their 2018-2019 season. In her spare time, Claire enjoys teaching her students at UC Santa Cruz and baking extravagant cakes for her loved ones.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

CO-MUSIC DIRECTOR

CO-MUSIC DIRECTOR

Evan Crone hails from Pennsylvania, and attended college at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ where he majored in education and minored in Organ and Voice. Evan resides in San Francisco and works as a Music/Vocal Director for various producers as well as an Accompanist and Vocal Coach.

VOCAL COORDINATOR

STAGE MANAGER

Raphael Buenaventura is honored to be collaborating with the production team of The Trees. Raphael is a Los-Angeles transplant, having recently relocated to the Bay Area. His previous acting work in Los Angeles include La Cage Aux Folles at The Long Beach Playhouse, Ben & George in The Hollywood Fringe Festival, and Kenny in Fil-Am (2022), a short film produced by VisionRey. Since moving to the Bay, he resumed involvement in theatre through stage and production management, working with Crescent Moon Theatre Productions, SFLGFB, Sarah Bush Dance Project, Left Coast Theatre Company, Fuse Theatre, and Phoenix Arts. His most recent acting work include a staged-reading with Theatre Rhinoceros and a stage performance with Bindlestiff Studio’s Queer as F*ck. When not juggling with work, Raphael spends his time with his 10-year old puppy, Trixie, who has been a long-time constant in his life. E-mail Raphael for work and collaborations: rsd.buenaventura@gmail.com

SOUND ENGINEER

SOUND ENGINEER INTERN

SOUND ENGINEER INTERN

Baxter Firman is a fifteen-year-old freshman at Drew School in San Francisco, California. He has seven years of experience rocking a drum kit and currently plays with the Blue Bear All-Star Band and the Drew School Jazz Music Ensemble. In addition to being a percussion whiz, Baxter is a budding filmmaker and excels particularly with film editing and special effects. Beyond the beats and frames, Baxter possesses a deep fascination for history. He spends his summers traveling with his grandfather, exploring the quarters of Marquis de Lafayette and jumping through the WWI trenches of France.