Who's Who

Marcia Hopson

Will Burns

Will Burns is an Actor/Writer/Musician that currently lives in New York and his own head. He is excited return to the Chain Theatre where he has performed in the Take Ten Festival. williamjburns.com
 

Jessica Luhmann

Jessica is super excited to be a part of The Pick Up. NYC Theatre: The Voice of Broadway (Dorothy Kilgallen) Theme Parks: Oktoberzest Busch Gardens (Singer/Dancer), Storyland Theme Park (Cinderella) Other favorite credits: Grease (Patty Simcox), Thoroughly Modern Mille (Ruth/Pearl Lady/Stenog).  Jessica holds a B.A. in Theatre with a MT Concentration from Dean College. She would like to thank her family, friends, and boyfriend who support her through everything! www.thejessluhmann.com Instagram: @thejessluhmann

Dave Silberger

Dave Silberger has been in 7 plays at Manhattan Rep under the direction of Ken Wolf. Hopefully, there will be many more. Dave has also been a member of 3 theater companies, Chicago’s Practical Theater, NYC’s Toon Theater and The Hudson Theatre Ensemble in Hoboken. He has also performed at Renaissance Festivals across the country for 4 decades as Half Wit Henry in The Sturdy Beggar’s Mud Show. 

Michael Zielinski

Michael Zielinski is a playwright, screenwriter and columnist.

In addition to Workaholic Romance and The Pickup, he has written eight other plays that have been presented by the Manhattan Repertory Theatre and directed by Manhattan Rep Artistic director Ken Wolf.

They are He’s Your Daddy!, Accidental Christmas Romance, Clerical Matters, Critical Mass, Sister Mary and the Pagan Babies, The Audible, The Confession and Dinner for Three.

Zielinski has written three screenplays – Targeted, Workaholic Romance and Christmas Past and Present.

Targeted has been optioned by Nick Annunziata of Il Toro Productions and accepted into the 2021 Hollywood Blvd Film Festival where it was named Best Comedy Screenplay. Annunziata, a veteran actor as well as a producer who played Eddie Pietro for three seasons on The Sopranos, plans to co-star in Targeted. 

Workaholic Romance, adapted from Zielinski’s playscript, was selected to be included in the 2020 Beverly Hills Film Festival, won the Silver Prize for Comedy in the 2019 Hollywood Screenplay Contest and was a semifinalist in the 2021 Miami Screenplay Awards. Carli Haney, the executive producer of Kevin Hart’s Fatherhood, The Boy Next Door and Dark Crimes, is currently pitching Workaholic Romance to her colleagues.

Christmas Past and Present, which Carli Haney also is pitching to her associates, was a semifinalist in the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards. It had one scene performed at the Los Angeles Feedback Film & Screenplay Festival and another scene (judged best scene) performed at the Los Angeles Romance Film & Screenplay Festival.

Zielinski has written and published two novels, Jack Daniels on the Rocks and A Pitch for Love.

He is a columnist for MediaNews Group, a chain of newspapers in suburban Philadelphia.

Jennifer Pierro

JENNIFER PIERRO is an Italian American NYC based Actress/Voice-Over Artist and a Proud member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA Unions. 

She studied acting at the prestigious HB Studio school in Greenwich Village NYC under the guidance of Jeanne Kaplan.

She was last seen in her short film “SWITCH”(she co-wrote) as Dr. Alex Owens and the indie features "CODE NAME NEMISIS", "MANHATTAN BRIDGE","THE CLOWN" & "THE BIG SHEA SOCIAL CLUB". She will be performing in her latest short film currently in development called “OPPOSITES” (she co-wrote) as Maggie. She is the Co-Author & voice of Roma in the multi-touch interactive children's book "ROMA'S NEW YORK CITY ADVENTURES". Available now on Apple Books. She also co-wrote, directed and produced the children’s theatre show “UNIQUE”.

Jennifer is the Co-Founder of Manhattan Repertory Theatre since 2005. www.manhattanrep.com

She is also the Co-Founder of a Production Company called Girlfriend Style Productions. A production company that focuses on producing projects with a message in theatre, film and tv. She co-wrote a children’s theatre show called “THE UNIQUE JOURNEY”. She also co-wrote, acted, directed and produced a short film called “SWITCH” that is currently in the film festival circuit. SWITCH has officially been selected in a number of festivals in the US and Internationally. Nominations include Best Screenplay, Best Screenplay Short, Best Drama, Best Dramatic Short, and has won the BEST SHORT SHORT award at the NYLIFF festival 2020!

Her most recent screenplay “OPPOSITES” that she co-wrote and will act, direct and produce is currently in development. www.girlfriendstyleproductions.com

She is a Mom to her fur child Roma (8lb Morkie), avid cyclist, runner, athlete, marathon competitor, loves all things fitness, animal lover, foodie, photographer, loves spending time with family, friends & loves traveling the world (Italy being her favorite) and exploring different cultures. She is currently training for the 2022 NYC marathon!

"Only as high as I can reach can I grow, Only as far as I seek can I go, Only as deep as I look can I see, Only as much as I dream can I be" - Karen Raven

For more information, please visit: www.jenniferpierro.com

Ken Wolf

Ken Wolf 

Ken Wolf is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan Rep and the author of over 20 plays. He has also directed over 100 productions in his lifetime, including The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Three Sisters, The Eyes of Love, The Match Game, Tales of Terror, Men, Le Cygne, The Living Room, Dirty Linen, Past Perfect, and the orignal production of The Bigot by Gabi and Eva Mor.

As Artistic Director at Manhattan Repertory Theatre, he has produced over 1000 full length plays and over 6000 short pieces.  

Ken hosts The Playwriting Podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and most podcast apps, which was voted the #1 Playwriting podcast in the world. 

Ken is also a playwriting coach and a Play Production “Doctor.”

His One Man play The People in my Hips was hailed by Martin Denton of nytheatre.com as being “unlike any theatre piece I have ever seen.” And Lise Avery of Anything Goes!! Internationally Syndicated Radio said “THE PEOPLE IN MY HIPS is one of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre I have seen on or Off-Broadway in years. Mr. Wolf’s one-man performance is exquisite, inspiring, courageous and beautifully constructed.” 

Ken also received rave reviews with his amazing 8lb dog Roma Pierro-Wolf, in his play DAD AND THE DOG, New York City’s first One Man One Dog show.   

He is a passionate teacher and creative artist. He lives with the incredible Jennifer Pierro and the adorable Roma Pierro-Wolf in Manhattan.