Polaris North Board OF DIRECTORS 2024-2025
Board President: John Sannuto
Board Member Since 2022
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Organization Admin/Policy, Studio Improvement, Fundraising, Membership, PR/Marketing Communications
Theatre Bio: PN Member since 2016. Actor/Singer/Dancer/Director/Choreographer. Adjunct Full Professor Drama, Long Island University
Board Vice President: Barbara Parisi
Board Member Since 2024
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Entertainment Industry Audition Workshop, Grants/Fundraising, Policy, Industry Outreach
Theatre Bio: Director/Actress/Lighting Designer. At PN co-directed John Corin’s play Brad Pitt and the Exploding Head (fall, 2023) From 2009 to 2017 Barbara directed and designed the lighting for
Decades Apart-Reflections of Three Gay Men, an original one-man show, written and performed by Rick Pulos, which toured U.S. cities including San Francisco, Santa Monica, LA, NYC, and
Connecticut. Also, Co-founder and Executive Director/General Manager of the Ryan Repertory Company at The Harry Warren Theatre in Brooklyn, NY since 1972. Barbara directed the Company in over 165 productions, ranging from musicals to dramas and comedies. Her interest lies in developing original work. Doctorate in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts. Professor of Communication Studies, Performance Studies, Gender Studies and Theatre at LIU Brooklyn. Editor of the Best American Short Plays series (2004 to 2010) for Applause Theatre and Cinema Books/Hal Leonard Group Publishing. Barbara is an ARTNY Board member and also spent nine years as a paralegal in her early career.
Board Treasurer: Francis Parkman
Board Member Since 2015
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Finance, Fundraising, Policy
Theatre Bio:. PN member since 1983. Theatre maker. Most recent sponsor of Polaris favorite Chance Acts! among many other productions at Polaris North.
Board Secretary: Meliora Dockery
Board Member Since 2021/2022
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Board Communications, Membership, Organization Admin/Policy
Theatre Bio: PN member since 2018. Actor, Playwright, Audiobook Narrator, VO talent, and Monologist. She earned a BFA in theatre arts from SUNY at Purchase. Mel has appeared in many Polaris North productions and has performed in major cities throughout the United States. Her book narrations can be heard at Audible.com.
Board Member At Large: Damien Bosco
Board Member Since 2024
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Studio Improvements, Lighting, Membership, Policy, Industry Outreach, Directors Group,
Theatre Bio: PN member since 2013. Actor, Director. He is a member of Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. Damien has acted in Polaris North productions and has directed some. Damien is also an attorney who has counseled nonprofits in the past.
Board Member At Large: John Corins
Board Member Since 2019
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Sponsorship/Advertisement, Fundraising, Policy, ADA Compliance
Theatre Bio: PN member since 2013. John Corins studied playwriting with the late, great Gene Frankel; and has had a number of plays produced at regional and repertory theatres around the country. At Polaris North, he has served as playwright, fundraiser, production coordinator, and works on project development.
Board Member At Large: Gayther Myers
Board Member Since 2019
Current Responsibilities/Committees Chaired: Zoom Playwrights Group, Zoom event hosting, Policy
Theatre Bio: PN Member since 2000. A Playwright most recent productions were a showcase of his play Blair at the Hudson Guild Theatre's Winterfest in 2018 (with incidental music and effects) and also in 2018, a staging of the play Hot Gilly Mo by the SUNY Delhi Players, in Delhi N.Y. In 2018, his trio for clarinet, bass clarinet, and piano Small Talk was performed by the Trio Namaste at the National Opera Center in a New York Composers Circle concert.