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No stranger to the stage, Ariana Straznicky-Packer is a professional violinist whose heart belongs to Broadway. A classically-trained musician, actress, vocalist, and writer, she is full of surprises. One thing you can always count on: She is always creating. 

After spending fourteen years building a flourishing career as a violinist, she is thrilled to return to the musical theater world as a singer, actress, and now, reviewer. With a Master of Music Degree from The Hartt School, Ariana performs in Connecticut's premier symphonies, teaches at her private studio, and founded award-winning wedding music company, Ariana Strings LLC. Thriving amidst the battle between time management and ambition, she also strongly advocates for musicians by serving on orchestra committees and as newly-appointed President of the American Federation of Musicians Union (CT Local). 

Pre-conservatory, Ariana made fond memories in community and college theater: learning to tap in Nunsense is a particular highlight. Thrilled to dust off her tap shoes, she recently returned to the stage as leading lady, Linda Mason in Holiday Inn at CT Theatre Company. 

Ariana is a triple threat performer who is taking up the mantle of a critic to defend and promote the arts she has dedicated her life to. Away from the arts, you'll find her spending time with her husband and little dog, studying languages, eyeing the latest designer bags, and traveling the world (22 countries and counting!) 

Brooks has been writing theater reviews since her undergraduate days, and her critical writings have appeared in The New Yorker, the New Haven Magazine, and elsewhere. She currently writes about theater for BWW and is on the board of the Connecticut Critics Circle.

Brooks’ theater criticism is informed by a lifetime of acting and directing experience. She and her husband, Dennis Bell, co-founded their own theater company, AppleBell Productions, and their 70-seat house sold out almost every performance. The business ran in the black for three years, until they left for the East Coast.

Brooks studied directing with Arno Selco, then head of the theatre department at Ithaca College, and with Resident Director Evan Yionoulis in Yale’s Summer Directing Program, among others. In academic, amateur, and professional settings, Brooks has directed over twenty plays by such writers as Sam Shepard, Horton Foote, Steven Dietz, A.R. Gurney, Lanford Wilson, and Thornton Wilder.

An actress for many years, Brooks’ favorite roles include Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Carol in Oleanna, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, and Nan/Lina in Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain.

Brooks has taught acting in a wide range of settings, including adult classes, high school theater departments, and AppleBell Productions’ acting program. At Quinnipiac University, Brooks teaches in the English Department, Women and Gender Studies, First Year Seminar, and her own course, "From Script to Stage" in the Theatre Department. 

Brooks graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and earned her Ph.D. in English Literature from Cornell.

Carissa Chesanek has worked as a journalist for many years, writing for publications that include BroadwayWorld, Show-Score, All About Solo, The Rumpus, Miami Herald, and Forbes Travel Guide. She is a current MFA Creative Writing (fiction) student at The New School and a volunteer writing mentor for PEN America's prison writing program. She's dabbled in improv and acting, and currently on the hunt to place the first play she wrote.

Jared Reynolds is a New Hampshire native now living in Connecticut. A recent graduate of the University of New Haven with a Bachelor's in Theater Arts, Jared used the past few years to explore as many facets of theater as he could. While primarily a playwright and actor, he also directs and has experience with lighting, dramaturgy, and set construction. Some of his credits include Favorite Son in "American Idiot" (Brookfield Theatre), Al Deluca in "A Chorus Line" (University of New Haven), and Robby in "Warmth of the Cold" (Nashua Theater Guild.)

Sherry Shameer Cohen is an award winning parachute journalist and blogger who is always looking for more challenging work. Her articles and photos have appeared in Connecticut Magazine, Greenwich Magazine, Stamford Plus, The Advocate, Greenwich Time, The Minuteman, Connecticut Jewish Ledger, The Jewish Chronicle, The Jewish Press, The New Jewish Voice, and various daytime magazines. She has stage managed, designed flyers, programs and props for community theatre and reviewed theatre for the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, Theater Inform and New England Entertainment Digest. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, Ken, and her two drama kings, Alexander Seth Cohen and Jonathan Ross Cohen.