Colby J. Herchel

Founder & Artistic Director of Scantic River Productions

Producer, Composer, & Assistant Director of The Midnight Chapters

Colby J. Herchel is a composer, lyricist, and playwright and has produced and directed original works in New York and New England. His most recently produced musicals include A Trip to the Moon (Off-Broadway, Film), Brothers Wright (NY Theater Fest, Regional), and Rocking Chair (Workshop, Audio Drama). He is the Artistic Director of Scantic River Productions. Please do not bring up whales with him because he won’t stop talking.

Nathanael Taylor

Head of production & Creative Producer of Scantic River Productions

Producer & Assistant Stage Manager of The Midnight Chapters

Nathanael is a creative producer who specializes in putting out figurative fires and starting literal fires. He actively wishes he spent more time camping and less time in front of his computer.

Kelly Oostman

Creative & Technical Director of Scantic River Productions

Producer & Sound Designer of The Midnight Chapters

Kelly is a sound designer and audio engineer based in New York City. She survives on a steady diet of black coffee, prefers partial sunlight, and makes lots of noise.

Katherine Oostman

Producer, director, & Playwright: The Truth About Whispers

Katherine Oostman is a writer / director of films, commercials, novels, articles, and now (thanks to The Midnight Chapters) theatre. Her conceptual eye combined with her grounded sensibilities create visceral, character-driven stories that comment on the human condition.

Her graduate thesis film, The Stranger, a psychological thriller, screened at San Diego Comic-Con, the TCL Chinese Theater, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Florida Film Festival. The Stranger was a winner of a 2018 bronze Telly Award for directing. 2019 Gasparilla Film Festival Grand Jury Best College Short Film winner. Winner of Film of the Month, Best Narrative Film, Best Director, Best Ensemble, and Best Editing from Top Shorts Film Festival with an Honorable Mention for Best Actress and Best Score. Winner of two Awards of Excellence for Direction and Women Filmmakers from Accolade Global Film Competition. The feature script, based on the short, was a 2018 American Zoetrope Screenwriting Competition Quarterfinalist and a 2020 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest quarterfinalist.

She has worked in story development capacities for companies such as Protozoa Pictures, The Kennedy Marshall Company, Partizan, and 1stAveMachine.

Dani Sklarz

Stage manager & Marketing director

Dani Sklarz is a passionate storyteller, using multimedia and theater as her primary mediums of communication. By day, Dani writes and produces advertisements for high-profile brands. She received a Telly Award for her social video series, The Gen Z Pop Quiz, and worked as an associate producer for two Daytime Emmy Award winning TV Shows. In her after hours, she likes to spend time talking about the ideas she has for plays, followed by actually writing them. Her work focuses on stories that unveil the human experience - turning to art, whether that be video or a staged play, because of its power to close gaps, build bridges and reveal our shared connections. This is Dani’s first time working with Scantic River Productions and she is thrilled to be stage managing & running point on marketing for The Midnight Chapters!

Ryan M. Bultrowicz

Playwright: Monsters are Made In the Minds of Men

Ryan M. Bultrowicz is a Mexican-American playwright based out of Virginia. He’s interested in creating innovative, experimental, and magical shows. He's had countless productions of his works staged across the world. He is the author of Dream Date (Queensland University, Australia), The Rabbit’s Hole (Baumholder American School, Germany), Shower Thoughts (Network Theatre, London), The Audience Disturbs Marcel’s Bath Time and He Is Very Upset With You All (Tiny Dynamite, Philadelphia), Three Women and an Onion (MadLab, Ohio) and many more. He views his pieces as experimental conversation starters; He often enjoy tackling subject matter from a distorted lens to emphasize certain aspects of it. This manifests itself in absurdism, magical realism, existentialism, or purposeful oddness. He is particularly interested in issues of morality, family tragedy, and the intangible powers of intense love or intense hatred.

Ben Conlon

Audio Engineer

Originally from New England, Ben currently serves as the head technology specialist at a leading New York studio. Experienced in a variety of live audio and studio recording roles, his love of sound is second only to his love of breaking things. And maybe fixing them. Maybe.

Will Elphingstone

Lighting Designer

Will Elphingstone, originally from Dallas, TX, is a New York-based lighting designer for live performance. Recent credits include Into The Breeches (Ocala Civic Theatre); The Nutcracker, Expressenz Dance 2022 (Expressenz Dance Center), Surviving the Rosenthals (NYTF); Fronteras (Flamenco Vivo); Noises Off, Seussical (Weehawken HS); Maytag Virgin (Theatre Three); Designing Women (Arkansas Rep); The Great 30 (Bombshell Dance Company). Away from the tech table, Will is an avid photographer interested in capturing the light in the world around us.

Paul Vaillancourt

Lighting Assistant

Paul Vaillancourt is a Lighting Designer currently living in New York City. Originally from Braintree, MA, Paul attended Ithaca College and graduated Cum Laude with a BFA in Theatrical Production Arts and a concentration in Lighting and Scenic Design. His designs have been seen at Ithaca College, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Massasoit Theater Company, The Company Theatre, and others.

 He has worked as an assistant, associate, and programmer both Off-Broadway and regional theaters. He has been fortunate enough to work at theaters such as 2nd Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, La Mama (Off-Broadway), Williamstown Theatre Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Goodman Theatre (Chicago), Ogunquit Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse, and others. 

Paul has worked as an assistant/ associate for Jen Schriever, Amith Chandrashaker, Isabella Byrd, María-Cristina Fusté, Lucrecia Briceno, Richard Latta, Steve TenEyck, and others.

Mary Berthelsen

Intimacy Coordinator

Mary Berthelsen (she/they) in an Intimacy Director, Actor, and Singer based in NYC. With many years' experience in theatre and musical theatre, they are focused on building consent-based workspaces through collaboration and open dialogue. Mary is thrilled to be working with Scantic River again on these new works!

Phil Lambert

Videographer

As often as possible, Phil hangs around with the Scantic River team taking photos and video of their productions. He's passionate about movies, Lego, and his two cats. Don't let him get too comfortable, or he may ramble about a Wikipedia page he read 5 years ago.

Julia Lambert

Videographer

Julia picks up her camera whenever Scantic River comes a calling . . . which is often. She enjoys photography, her two cats, and pouring hot sauce on everything she eats.

Craig McElwee

Videographer / Photographer

Just some guy who does things in documentary video and photo formats, and unexpected Grandfather of WAY too many cats.

— Additional Credits —

Announcement Voice Artist . . . Anya Krawcheck

Production Design . . . Katherine Oostman

Book Chandelier Sculptor . . . Isaac Woon

House Manager . . . Colby J. Herchel

Swing Assistants . . . Nathanael Taylor & Craig McElwee

Fire Marshal . . . Colby J. Herchel

Graphic Design . . . Katherine Oostman

Scantic River Productions is a Non-Profit Theatre based Production Company rooted in New York City.

We’re inspired by creative works and thrive in curating original pieces in order to produce them in ways you don’t expect. Our passion is discovering unique stories and perspectives from new artists that may not be readily accessible to commercial audiences. Jump in the sandbox, pick up a shovel, and let’s build castles.

The A.R.T./New York Theatres are a project of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York) which provide state-of-the-art, accessible venues and top-line technical equipment at subsidized rates, so that the city’s small and emerging theatre companies can continue to experiment, grow, and produce new works.

Founded in 1972, A.R.T./New York assists over 400 member theatres in realizing their rich artistic visions and serving their diverse audiences well. A.R.T./New York accomplishes this through providing progressive services to our members – from shared office and rehearsal spaces to technical assistance programs for emerging theatres. Because of this dedication to serving the needs of the nonprofit theatre community, A.R.T./New York has received numerous honors, including an Obie Award, an Innovative Theatre Award, a New York City Mayor’s Award for Arts & Culture, and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre.

Special Thanks

Scantic River Productions Patrons

Andrew Wingert

Justine Cortale

Sonic Union

Sue & Andy Sklarz

Ray & Carol Taylor

Anya Krawcheck

Cathy & Dennis Herchel

Sarah Lahue, K8 August, Courteney Leggett, & Ashley Kok