Paul Ellis - Alan Brady - Trapper Quintero - Holly Gorman - Kate Brannan - Brian Nieves - Alan Andrews - Ian Murphy - Joe Gagliardi - Mary Lee Shorr

Paul Ellis - Writer, Director, Producer

Paul Ellis has worked in show business for over 35 years. Trained as a theatre director with Lee Strassberg, Jullian Beck, and Richard Schechner, he has directed more than seventy plays. He studied playwriting with Jean-Claude Van Ittalie at Princeton University. As a producer he is responsible for producing festivals, concerts and major events and is a long time advocate for community based arts.

As the Director of Art and Cultural Development for the Township of Montclair he originated Monday Night Music at the public library, presented Moonlight Nights at the High School Amphitheater, and began ArtsWork the summer arts employment program. Mr. Ellis was the Executive Director of First Night Montclair for 15 years and produced the Montclair Jazz Festival reviving a long standing tradition in Montclair.

In 2006 he produced America for Sale, a one act play festival in Newburgh, NY, which led to his experimenting in Radio Theater. Last season Ellis began The Air Pirates Radio Theater at the Lycian Centre with a series of four plays, each written by him. In their first season, the Air Pirates were voted the Best Local Troupe by the Times Herald Record Readers’ Poll. This season they return with five plays continuing the stories of Herb Marks and Tica Maroo and adding the new Legend of Los Tres Balceneros. He presently is the co-host of The Culture Connection with John Moultrie on WTBQ AM and this fall will be producing Music from the Valley, live concerts broadcast on radio featuring musicians from the Hudson Valley.

Alan Brady - writer Los Tres Balcenaros

Trapper Quintero - audio editing, music arrangements, special effects

Holly Gobelez - Tica Maroo (Space Cadet), voices

As a recent theater graduate of Binghamton University, Holly Gobelez is thrilled and thankful to work with such talented people right from the start. Holly studied abroad at The Total Art of Chinese Theater, where she appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Beyond Therapy. Holly also performed in the University main stage productions of Tongue of a Bird and as Catherine in Proof. Air Pirates Radio Theater is a unique experience she’ll never forget; the next best thing to Flying by Foy. In her second season as an Air Pirate Holly will be playing Tica Maroo in Space Cadet, Suki Wong in Herb Marks and All Fortunes are not Found in Cookies and assorted extras.

Kate Brannan - musical scores, music & voices

Orange County native Kate Brannan has been playing piano since she sneaked into grandma's parlor as a toddler. She is the organist/pianist for New Prospect Reformed Church in Pine Bush, also performing at local open mics. She discovered radio in college, and spent two decades in broadcasting as an air personality, copywriter, and office manager. To satisfy her radio addiction, Kate joined the Air Pirates last season and has come to be a force to reckon with. She composes the theme music, arranges the odd songs used during the shows, helps write the commercials and plays several roles in each show including LaTriné Porcelana, and Desembolio in the Herb Marks and Art by the Numbers, Rita, Conchita, and Delta in Los Tres Balceneros.

Brian Nieves - MA-XL-S (Max), Tex Matrix, voices

A huge fan of the childhood game "pretend", Brian Nieves has been pretending to be different characters for several years. Brian climbed aboard the Air Pirates ship in the winter of 2007 for their production of A Christmas Carol taking on five roles including Bob Cratchet, Young Scrooge and the Gentleman. Other roles include; Gary Gilberger in Enjoying Your Fame, Bernardo in West Side Story, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and Meschak in Tale of The Silver Guardians. Brian can be seen performing daily as The Monkey in Dance For Your Peanuts! Brian is remembered as the Air Pirate that fights with himself when playing the roles of MAX- LS and Tex Matrix in Space Cadet. He is also Smokestack El Ropo in the Heb Marks plays and any number of others. This season he will originate the character Sunny in Los Tres Balceneros.

Kate Brannan, Holly Gorman and Brian Nieves in all of the shows Alan Andrews in Los Tres Balceneros Ian Murphy in Space Cadet Joe Gagliardi in Herb Marks Mary Lee Shorr in Herb Marks and Space Cadet

Alan Andrews

Alan Andrews debuts with Air Pirates as “The Kid,” and also sings many of the theme songs in the “Los Tres Balceneros” series. Alan graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Voice, and has performed over thirty operatic roles, including the title roles in “Mefistofele” and “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Leporello in “Don Giovanni,” and all four villains in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” Of his performance as Leporello, the North County News has written, “Alan Andrews is known for his comic antics and splendid bass baritone. He was resourceful as Leporello, servant to Don Giovanni, sometimes upstaging his master as an earthy clown.” Alan has also portrayed Emile deBecque in “South Pacific” and Tommy in “Brigadoon.”

Performing with The Air Pirates Radio Theater brings the Texas native back full circle, as his first paying job ever while in high school was as the weekend newscaster at KCLE in Cleburne, Texas. Alan has sung with The Dallas Opera, Taconic Opera, Hudson Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera and the Delaware Valley Opera. He now lives in Chester, NY with his wife, kids, some big ol’ dogs, a cat and a bird and that’s probably about it.

See or hear Alan in Los Tres Balceneros.

Ian Murphy - information pending

See or hear Ian in Space Cadet

Joseph E. Gagliardi III - Musician, Composer, Digital Media Artist, Voices and Abnormalties

Joseph Gagliardi has been a musician since the age of 7 and has gone on to learn more than a dozen instruments. As a child, Joseph kept to himself, so much so that he developed a talent in music and the arts. He would lock himself in his room to study and learn the multiple aspects of writing and producing music and sound.

At the age of 12 he began to perform live in many different incarnations as a one-man band. He later went on to form his own band Dislocate and his current be-all end-all project 'MARTYR ART'.

In 2005, Joseph started working as an Intern and then later became the Associate Producer at Hit The Road Productions (Chester, NY). In 2008, he was invited by Paul Ellis to become a Voice Actor for the Herb Marks Series. In 2009, Joseph has been cast in the remaining Air Pirates Radio Theater Shows Space Cadet and Los Tres Balceneros.

MaryLee Shorr

MaryLee Shorr has been a part of the theatre, backstage as well as onstage, since she was five years old. Some recent shows she has acted in include: Twelfth Night, La Malinche, Reunion, As You Like It, Cecily, Steel Magnolias, Last of the Red Hot Lovers (ITC), and many others including some films. She holds an A.A. in Theatre from SUNY Orange. In Manhattan, she has studied Meisner at Caymichael Patten Studio and Chekhov with improvisation at the Studio Upstairs. Other training includes The Hudson Valley Conservatory and The Manhattan Class Company Actor's Training School. She is Co-founder of the local nonprofit group Women in Arts Inc. which holds benefit performances and art events to raise money for local charities.

In 2007 MaryLee was one of 12 students selected nationally to participate in a fellowship grant sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Through this program she toured Europe studying Shakespeare and Rembrandt. She is currently completing her B.A. concentrating in combining theatre and community services. MaryLee would like to thank the The Air Pirates Radio Theater cast and crew for this exciting and enlightening journey.

See or hear Mary in Herb Marks & Space Cadet

The The Air Pirates Radio Theater is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralized Program administered by Arts in Orange, Orange Arts/Orange County Tourism and the Orange County Legislature.