ABOUT THE NITESTAR PROGRAM

NiteStar uses the performing arts and peer education to help young people make informed decisions, providing options for changing attitudes and prejudices, and creating opportunities for promoting healthy behaviors. It is built on the belief that a significant impact on adolescent health is possible only if young people have comprehensive understanding about the issues they face growing up in the age of AIDS.

About Nitestar:

The NiteStar Program was founded by Dr. Cydelle Berlin in 1987. It was housed at The Mount Sinai Medical Center's Adolescent Health Center with the mission of bringing lifesaving, accurate health information to young people through the medium of theater. The program has been located at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center on West 114 th Street in Manhattan since 1998.

Unlike generations before them, today's youth face a tremendous number of challenges. They are frequently confronted with issues of sex and sexuality, domestic and teen violence, substance abuse, and multiple health threats, including teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. One-quarter of all new HIV infections in the United States are estimated to occur in young people under the age of 25. Clearly, young people are in tremendous need of access to confidential health services and health education. The NiteStar Program provides this crucial information in an arresting and exciting way that is greeted with great enthusiasm by young people everywhere.

In December 1996, PBS Television premiered "Sex and Other Matters of Life and Death," which profiled a year in the life of NiteStar. The acclaimed one-hour documentary combines intimate profiles of the young actors with engaging scenes from performances to capture the complexities of growing up in the age of AIDS.

STAFF BIOS

In addition to years of experience in their primary area of expertise and a commitment to social change, each and every member of the NiteStar staff has created a body of work in at least one other artistic discipline. Together they create a combustible, energetic and eclectic creative spirit that infuses the work and enhances the atmosphere

Biographical Sketches of NiteStar's Staff:

Dr. Cydelle Berlin founded STAR Theatre in 1987 and is the Executive Director/Producer of The NiteStar Program, which is based at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center in Upper Manhattan . NiteStar is a national multi-component theater based Health Promotion and Education program for young people, parents and providers which includes direct service, training, and technical assistance.

An internationally recognized expert in the field of Adolescent Sexuality, Dr. Berlin holds a Ph.D. from New York University in Health Education and Human Sexuality, with a specialty in Adolescent Development and Sexuality. She also holds a Master level degree in Communication Technology from New York University .

Dr. Berlin is also the co-founder of the Adolescent AIDS Prevention Program at Mount Sinai Hospital's Adolescent Health Center where she was the co-director of the program and the Executive Producer of STAR Theatre for 11 years. (1987-1998).

Dr. Berlin and the program have received numerous national and local awards for innovation in the field of peer education, educational theater and sexuality education for young people. In 1996, PBS produced an award winning film called "Sex and Other Matters of Life and Death" about Dr. Berlin and her program. She is also the winner of a national CableAce for best television programming for a cable series on adolescent sexuality topics that she wrote, produced and hosted called "On the Edge". Most recently Dr. Berlin produced NiteStar's Off-Broadway show "Sex and Other Matters: The Reality Show at Theatre 3 in Manhattan .

In addition to her work with NiteStar, Dr. Berlin consults with many organizations nationally and internationally, on adolescent sexuality, HIV and on the use of innovative methodology. Among her many consultations, she works with the United Nations (UNFPA) where she trains young professionals from the regions of North and Eastern Europe on adolescent sexuality and the use of theater as an educational tool. She and her colleague, Ken Hornbeck wrote a manual on developing educational theater, which is being used by the United Nations. She has also been a presenter or a keynote speaker at dozens of regional and national conferences and meetings.

A native of Chicago, Cheryl began directing original issue-based theatre nineteen years ago. This is her eighth season as Artistic Director for NiteStar, directing their productions of Am I Normal, Everybody’s Doin’ It, Reality Show, Reality Show NYU, Reality Show IPV and The Rec for school-based audiences and The Living Quilt, Pandemic and Whatcha lookin’ at? for adult audiences. She also co-directed 3 productions of Vagina Monologues with Dr. Berlin for the Center for Comprehensive Care of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital for V-Day and as part of the Until the Violence Stops Campaign. Last season she created Our Voices Our Lives, a women’s theatre project with clients from the Center for Comprehensive Care.

She was the Stage Director for the NYC Board of Education SPARK Program’s Arts-in-Counseling Team. In that capacity she directed their youth theatre, SPARK Peer Players for eleven seasons and created an adult ensemble, Family Arts Forum, for which she acted as Artistic Director for five seasons, creating and directing over 25 original short plays.

Cheryl holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts from Northwestern University, a Master’s Degree from the NYU Gallatin School and spent a season as an apprentice at the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, assisting Artistic Director John Jory for the second new plays festival production of Find Me.

She is currently working on a book, “She’s Not Yours, Is She?” Voices from the Frontlines of the New American Family and continuing a long-term professional partnership with playwright Fernando Manon for his plays Theft in the Family and Caldera.

Danny has appeared on Broadway, bands and television, and has composed music for commercials and TV. He currently leads and composes for the band, Bad Teenage Moustache.

David began his NiteStar experience as an Actor in the Company. After three years of actor/education he then became the Training Production Manager for the company. Throughout his years with NiteStar he has performed in Out of the Box, Reality Show, Reality Show NYU, Waiting to Break Through, Everybody's Doin' It, Am I Normal and The Living Quilt. He is a 2004 Nuyorican Poet's Café Grand Slam Finalist and can be seen in the independent film, "Madness and Genius."

Alyssa joined the NiteStar Program in the fall of 2005. She received her BA from New School University in Non Fiction writing and studied at the University of Amsterdam in the fall of 2003. She has stage managed for the Milwaukee Theatre Company and the Oblivion Theatre Company in Chicago, for Pace University productions in New York, and has worked as both a box office assistant and subscriptions assistant for the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She is a solo singer/songwriter who has performed throughout Europe and currently plays in and around NYC. She also has a band, Bad Teenage Moustache, with her brother, NiteStar musical director Danny Rockett. You can check out all her music at: www.alyssarobbins.com.

Terrence has been working with NiteStar since his years in high school. Terrence has worked as an Actor/Educator as well as a facilitator for numerous NiteStar interventions. A graduate of the "FAME" Performing Arts High School in New York City , he has appeared Off-Broadway, and in film and television. Terrence also works with Zinc as a Life Skills facilitator/actor for the NFL and NBA.

Tulsi has been affiliated with NiteStar from its infancy, working closely with the Executive Director on many aspects of the program. She has an extensive background as a singer/songwriter, and has performed in cabarets, theater and television throughout the United States and Europe . She is an exhibited photographer and published author, and has produced numerous documentary segments for Japan TV's long running "11 P.M. Show."

Yong joined NiteStar in October 2007. She has worked as a freelance writer, a teacher, an adjunct in English composition, a human rights consultant, an office temp, and an interpreter, among others. She graduated with an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and has received writing fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, and the Helene Wurlitzer, the Geraldine R. Dodge, and the Edward Albee foundations. A published writer of short fiction, she is at work on a novel.