all female, all funny
G I L D A
Meet the ladies of Gilda!
Nikki Plyem is an actress, improviser, singer and teaching artist based outof New York City. Originally from Upstate New York, she got her first taste of the Arts playing the Sun in her kindergarten school play and her hunger for the arts has been insatiable ever since. You can currently find her performing with Tony 'N Tina's Wedding in Times Square, and Freestyle Repertory Theatre when she's not onstage with Gilda. She also writes and performs with sketch group Bananas. Past companies Nikki has performed with include The Mop and Bucket Co., Cherubs Improv, Lords and Fools Medival Dinner Theatre, and The Murder Mystery Co. She has studied at iO Chicago, The PIT, and The Esper Studio. Check out her website at http://nikkiplyem.wix.com/nikki
Maura Ruth is an actor and improviser who recently transplanted to Los Angeles after living and performing in New York City for several years. She has studied improv at The Peoples Improv Theater and The Nerdist School, and have performed with numerous improv groups including: Gilda, The Smarticles, Stacks on Stacks on Stacks, and Crazy Eights. She's performed at various venues including The Peoples Improv Theater, NerdMelt, Danger Room, The Magnet Theater, The Creek and The Cave, The Queens Secret Improv Club, and The Fifth Estate.In addition to her improv training, she also studied Theater Arts at The University of Northern Iowa and has acted in numerous productions including: Our Town, Mr. Marmalade, WIT, Three Sisters, Romeo and Juliet, Danny and The Deep Blue Sea, and In The Boom Boom Room.
Gilda West!
Steph Garcia is a writer, actress and improviser in LA. She's studied improv at UCB, The PIT and The Magnet Theater. In addition to Gilda, she's part of the sketch duo Firecracker and a writer for ABU Films. She was part of several sketch teams at The Magnet Theater including Alchemy and Dispacho. Her work has been featured at LA Web Fest, NYC SketchFest, Women in Comedy Festival, and NY TV Festival. Check out her website: www.stephgarcia.net
Frankie Johnson is a writer, actress, and improviser currently living and working in New York City. She currently performs with the teams Youth Group, Gilda, and Skycopter. With Skycopter she also produces the weekly monoscene show, Act One, at the Peoples Improv Theatre. She wrote the book and lyrics to the musical dark comedy The Hills Are Alive! with composer Eric Thomas Johnson, which was an official selection of the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) following a successful run at the 2012 New York Fringe Festival. In addition to writing for musical theater, she writes sketch comedy both independently and as part of the group Dolphin Attack, and has had her works premiered at several venues around NYC, including The Romulus Linney Theatre, The Peoples Improv Theater, Theatre 80, The Duplex, and The Tank. As an actress, she has also been seen in various productions in regional theatre and in NYC. Credits include: The Hills Are Alive!, The Future Is in Eggs, Sicilian Limes, Eurydice, Faith, Hope & Charity, The Complete History of America (abridged), Hay Fever, The Pirates of Penzance, among others. She holds a degree from Vanderbilt University, where she studied music and theatre
Writer and comedian Martha Cipolla has been called “a female Jon Stewart” (by one of her Facebook friends) and “so funny” (by her mom). She loves cupcakes and she hates pies, and those are the facts. She’s a veteran of the Peoples Improv Theater’s 10,000 Hours team MMDK, and in addition to improvising with Gilda, she performs around New York City with the Austen Family Improv Players and Golden Girls-Prov. She also writes and performs with sketch groups Bananas and Dolphin Attack. Visit Martha’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/marthacipolla, to see her doing dumb things like performing stand-up for her cats and rapping as Marcus Brutus.
Elizabeth Galalis is an actor and improviser in New York City. A graduate of The People's Improv Theater, she can be seen on current 10,000 Hours Team, Bueller...? roughly every other Sunday at The PIT. Additionally, she performs all around NYC with Gilda and her indie two-prov team, Eliza. Former teams include, MMDK, Shark Bait!, and Red Tie Mafia. Elizabeth is best known for her work on late night cable television as mentally-challenged- 19th-century-ghost in Celebrity Ghost Stories on the BIO Channel and as girl-who-gets-murdered-by-motorcycle-gang-zombies on My Nightmare: Decoded, also on the BIO Channel. Elizabeth holds a BFA in Acting from Pace University and has trained classically at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. For more things Liz Galalis check out www.elizabethgalalis.com
Amanda Nicastro is an actress living and working in NYC. She performs with her team Gilda regularly at The People's Improv theater. When she's not performing she's pursuing other passions such as comedy writing, directing, and teaching. Current sketch teams include Dolphin Attack and MashMaw. Most recently a one act she directed premiered at Emerging Artist's New Works Festival. Previous teaching artist positions have been held at Naked Angels Theater in NYC & The Children's Theater of Charlotte.
Sarah Morgan spent her youth in the backwoods of Tennessee where she ate squirrel meat and ran a successful moonshine business. After a bad bout with food poisoning, she decided to get serious with her life...So she became an actor/writer, naturally. Sarah went on to graduate from The University of the South with a BA in Theater and studied acting at Michael Howard Studios Conservatory. She is a company member of New York’s Pantomonium Productions and Puppetry Arts NYC. Two of her original shows were accepted to the Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project’s Annual Women’s Work Festival. She also co-wrote a holiday musical that was professionally produced in Nashville, Tennessee. Sarah currently lives in Brooklyn and performs regularly with her indie improv team, Gilda and every Monday night with PIT House Team, Navy Blue Seals. You can also catch Sarah every Sunday night at the with her other indie team, Skycopter in Act One: The Show of Improvised One-Act Plays.
Greta Schwartz Born and bred a Jersey girl, Greta first started her improv career with the short-form improv group Fire & Ice. In 2009, she moved on to long-form and began studying at the People’s Improv Theater. In 2010, Greta helped co-found the Moscow River Sharks and performed regularly with them for over two years. After that team disbanded, she joined Gilda and its been improv bliss ever since. Greta also does comedy-writing and storytelling.
When not on stage, Greta can generally be found either at Yankee Stadium or humping her life-sized cardboard cut-out of A-rod. Inspired by many, Greta counts among her heroes Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and anyone from the Jersey Shore cast.
Originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Jane Slater feels so lucky to perform with the funny and talented ladies of Gilda. She also comprises half of the two-prov team, Tea Party and previously performed with the Moscow River Sharks. Jane has studied improv at The People’s Improv Theatre in New York City and BATS Improv Theatre in San Francisco. Jane can also be found dancing, quilting, and talking about playing keyboard with her folk band, The Road Sisters (which hasn't been a thing for like two years but it was so fun she couldn't help but mention it!)