Our Founder: Ben Rimalower ’98

Roles within BareStage:
Founder. Director and Producer of Falsettos (April 96), Ruthless (October 96), Chess in Concert (December 96), Into the Woods (May 97), and Cabaret (April 98)

Current Role:
Director of Programming at The Green Room 42

What was your professional path after college?
I interned at the McCarter Theater, then worked as an assistant on the TV show Spin City, then assisted director Lonny Price on the Manhattan Theater Club, Broadway, Pasadena Playhouse, and Tokyo productions of A Class Act and the NY Philharmonic/SF Symphony/Ravinia Festival Sweeney Todd (with Patti LuPone, George Hearn and Neil Patrick Harris). Since then I’ve directed, produced, written and performed theater and cabaret in New York and around the world, most notably including John Fisher’s Joy, Marissa Kamin’s The Fabulous Life of a Size Zero, Leslie Kritzer is Patti LuPone at Les Mouches and Luann de Lesseps in Countess and Friends, and my own solo plays Patti Issues and Bad with Money. I’ve also produced and directed audiobooks for Simon & Schuster, written columns for Playbill, Broadwayworld and Vulture, and hosted podcasts for Broadway Podcast Network.

What fills your time now – professionally and personally?
I do artistic programming for two New York cabaret venues, The Green Room 42 and Chelsea Table + Stage and produce and host the podcast Giants in the Sky: How Sondheim and Lapine Went Into the Woods. Personally, I love seeing shows, hanging out with my large circles of friends, cooking, eating, walking, singing, listening to music, reading, and obsessing about politics.

How did BareStage impact your college experience? Has BareStage had an impact on your post-grad life?
BareStage defined my college experience and laid the groundwork for everything I’ve done since, so much of which was self produced and/or self initiated.

What’s your favorite BareStage memory?
The opening night of Falsettos in CRH, our first production.

What advice do you have for someone entering your field?
Learn everything, do everything, follow your passions and interests, don’t take no for an answer.

Hometown:

Los Angeles

Current City:

New York City

Major:

Dramatic Art