Read more about Nell in this recent American Theatre article.
"Nell Bang-Jensen has drive. She's a high octane, finely tuned machine of fully loaded artistic talent." -Christopher Munden, Phindie
"The most satisfying standing ovation I’ve ever experienced." -Alaina Mabaso, Broad Street Review on THE CAREGIVERS
""Maybe Bang-Jensen signal[s] what is next for the performing arts: a solution to flagging audience attendance and ticket sales could be large-scale inclusivity, allowing the community to take part in the art that they consume." -Alix Rosenfeld, Broad Street Review
“‘The Wolves’ is saving pandemic theater….powerfully expressive” -Jesse Green, New York Times
People’s Light
Adapter/Composer: Zak Berkman
Director: Nell Bang-Jensen
Arranger: Mitch Chakour
Music Director: Justin Yoder
Choreographer: Jacinta Yelland
Scenic Designer: Steven Dufala
Costume Designer: Rebecca Kanach
Lighting Designer: Krista Smith
Sound Designer: Jordan McCree
Scenic Drafter: Grisele Gonsalez
Youth Coordinator: Victoriana Dan
Dialect Coach: Melanie Julian
Director of Production: Charles T. Brastow
Resident Associate Director: Andrew Watring
Stage Manager: Alexis Wells
Assistant Stage Manager: Jess McPhillips
“Unique, brilliant, and enchanting, are the words this reviewer uses to describe the production of A Christmas Carol currently running at Malvern-based theatre People’s Light.” -Tony Oriente, Broadway World
By Ana Nogueira
Directed by Nell Bang-Jensen
Leslie Ann Boyden, Stage Manager
Lily Fossner, Lighting Design
Chris Haig, Scenic Design
Jillian Keys, Costume Design
Jordan McCree, Sound Design
Abby Weissman, Intimacy Coordinator
Featuring Makoto Hirano, Claire Inie-Richards & Matteo Scammell
TOWN
Theatre Horizon
Premiered September 15-18, 2022
On the lawn of Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy (1601 Markley Street, Norristown, PA 19401)
What happens when community members of a diverse town tell a story as one?
TOWN is Theatre Horizon’s largest-scale production in our nearly 20-year history. Helmed by director Nell Bang-Jensen and playwright Michael John Garcés this new play celebrates and interrogates small town American life. Featuring music by Philly-based artist collective ILL DOOTS and featuring an ensemble of community members and professional theatre artists, TOWN will focus on Death & Eternity, Love & Marriage, and Daily Life all inspired by stories from over 130 Norristown residents.
Media:
Mini Documentary about the making of TOWN found here.
WHYY radio story and article here.
Philadelphia Inquirer article here.
Playwright
Michael John Garcés
Director
Nell Bang-Jensen
Original Music
ILL DOOTS
Music Directors
Elle.Morris & Scott Ziegler
Community Coordinator
Marisol Rosa-Shapiro
Movement Coach
Melanie Cotton
Assistant Director
Tanaquil Marquez
Dramaturg
Gilberto Vega
Lighting Designer
Krista Smith
Scenic/Prop Designer
Chris Haig
Costume Designer
Leigh Paradise
Sound Designers
Anthony Martinez-Briggs & Jordan McCree
Master Electrician
Heather Pynne
Audio Engineer
Nicholas Rahn
Production Stage Manager
Maggie Davis*
Assistant Stage Manager
Chandalae Nyswonger*
*Appearing through an Agreement between Theatre Horizon and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
A Celebration of Gathering
Theatre Horizon
December 10-12, 2021
A curated evening of music, poetry, and much-needed laughter hosted by Philadelphia Theater icons, Brett Robinson and Alex Bechtel. Join Theatre Horizon for our first in-person production after nearly 18 months of virtual programming as beloved actors, musicians, and community members celebrate the holiday season with this original variety show.
Director
Nell Bang-Jensen
Hosts
Brett Robinson & Alex Bechtel
Performers
Suli Holum
Andrea Lamy
Jessica Johnson
Steve Pacek
Pax Ressler
Jenn Rose
Marisol Rosa-Shapiro
Bren Thomas
Lighting Designer
Maria Shaplin
Sound Designer
Larry Fowler
Master Electrician
Charlie Santella
Stage Manager
Nick Hatcher
University of the Arts
Music & Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa
Book by Michael John LaChiusa & Georce G. Wolfe
Directed by Nell Bang-Jensen
Associate Director/Choreographer Mel Cotton
Music Director Dan Espie
Set Designer Chris Haig
Lighting Designer Mike Inwood
Sound Designer Larry Fowler
Costume Designer LeVonne Lindsay
Fight Choreographer J Alex Cordaro
Intimacy Choreographer Eli Lynn
Photos by Paola Nogueras
The Peddie School, May 2019
By Qui Nguyen
Director: Nell Bang-Jensen
Scenic Design: Matthew S. Crane
Lighting Design: Marilyn Anker
Costume Design: Lizzy Pecora
Fight Choreography: Christopher Guild
Choreographer: Julia Patella
Technical Director: John Lucs
Photos by Andrew Marvin
“Vocal performances under director Nell Bang-Jensen sensitively layer shared fantasy and imaginative soliloquy that effortlessly break the surface into more standard dialogue.” -Alaina Johns, Broad Street Review
Crossing medieval legend with American sexual politics, NOSEJOB tells the story of a 9th century abbey of nuns who cut off their noses to repel a pack of rapacious vikings, and a 21st century college where boys are “burying” their faces in girls’ cleavage as part of a schoolwide prank. At the center of this wicked satire is college student Devon Chase, a feminist in search of a fantasy life she can live with.
NOSEJOB charts the contours of consent, power, and fantasy to ask what has changed about rape culture in the last 13 centuries?
An audio version of NOSEJOB was produced by Lightning Rod Special as part of Sound Break.
NOSEJOB also received developmental support as part of the 2019 Director Residency Program of The Drama League of New York. (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director; Travis Le Mont Ballenger, Associate Producer).
Listen here or through Apple or Spotify Podcasts.
CREATIVE TEAM
Co-Writers: Lee Minora and Scott R. Sheppard
Director: Nell Bang-Jensen
Co-Creators: Nell Bang-Jensen, Lee Minora, Matteo Scammell, Scott R. Sheppard
Performers: Cathy Ang, Melanye Finister, Annette Hammond, Lee Minora, Matteo Scammell, Scott R. Sheppard, Leah Walton
Sound Designer: Kathy Ruvuna
Creative Producer: Mason Rosenthal
Special thanks to The Drama League, and to Alex Bechtel, Mark Valenzuela, and Nathaniel Kent for their guest performances.
SOUND BREAK
Co-Directors: Mason Rosenthal, Scott R. Sheppard, Alice Yorke
Sound Supervisor: Jaechelle Johnson
Project Manager: Lawryn LaCroix
Graphic Designer: Jesse Armine
“The most satisfying standing ovation I’ve ever experienced.” -Alaina Mabaso, Broad Street Review
June 2018
Directed and Created by Nell Bang-Jensen
Produced by Pig Iron Theatre Company
Photos by John Chandler Hawthorne
In search of care for her husband Bill, Evelyn finds herself on an unexpected journey––to an island where no one ever gets sick, a Peruvian bakery that boasts the perfect loaf of bread, and back in time to the 1960's where she first met Bill at a Synagogue dance. Led by Pig Iron Associate Artistic Director Nell Bang-Jensen, The Caregivers is a new play created by home health aides, hospice workers, and family caregivers that explores the spaces where love meets obligation.
Press:
Originally scheduled to premiere at Philadelphia Theatre Company in March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, THE WOLVES was staged virtually the following fall.
by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Nell Bang-Jensen
Costume Design by Maiko Matsushima
Sound Design & Original Music by Jane Shaw
Director of Photography Chris Swetcky
Designers who worked on the canceled stage production are:
Scenic Design by Carolyn Mraz
Lighting Design by Mike Inwood
“Director Nell Bang-Jensen has cleverly employed this technology in a way that feels completely fresh.” -David Fox, Philadelphia Stories
“And the good news…is that pandemic productions as fine as these will keep shattering audiences until they can reassemble to confront live theater again.” – Jesse Green, New York Times
“‘The Wolves’ is saving pandemic theater….powerfully expressive” -Jesse Green, New York Times
“There are certainly standout individual performances, but the real marvel is how copacetic the ensemble feels….Pound for pound, line for line, it is one of the most authentic expressions of adolescence I’ve ever encountered onstage..” -Cameron Kelsall, Broad Street Review
“Bang-Jensen and her high-energy ensemble excel at sketching character.” -Julia M. Klein, Philadelphia Inquirer
Practice Wedding was an immersive theater piece made in response to the iconic American wedding. Presented as part of the Painted Bride Art Center's Secret Show Series, and funded by the Knight Foundation.
Co-Director/Conceivers: Nell Bang-Jensen and Tommy Butler
Performer/Creators: Eva Steinmetz, Brett Robinson, Aram Alan Aghazarian, Justin Rose, Emily R. Johnson, Emily Schuman,
Lighting: Will Jonez
Photos by Steve Sachs
Press:
An initiative Nell designed for Theatre Horizon during the Covid-19 pandemic and written about in the New York Times. Professional award-winning theatre artists are paired with local area households to create an evening of original theater. Each performance will expand on the concept of family in the era of quarantine and explore the sensational moments that can be found within the familiar every day.
Monthly live-streamed performances that aired between December 2020 and June 2021.
For more information visit Theatre Horizon’s website.
“We realized that’s really how people fall in love with the arts, by participating in them,” Nell Bang-Jensen, Theater Horizon’s artistic director, said. —Alexis Soloski, New York Times
As covered by:
February 2019
Directed and Created by Nell Bang-Jensen with ensemble
Lights: Jeff Bartlett
Scenic Design: Christine Esterl
Costumes: Mary Ann Kelling
Produced by Pig Iron in residence at Carleton College
Photos courtesy of Carleton College
A father waits by the television for news of his son in Vietnam. A 16th century King asks a clockmaker to create a robot that will automate his prayers. Parents in a hospital try to decipher the sound of their child's heartbeat from the sound of the machine mechanizing its rhythm.
Three melodramas ask how technological inventions have shaped, and will continue to shape, human relationships, and what is left when all the lights go out.
A Commonspace: Live event produced as part of the First Person Arts Festival at Christ Church Neighborhood House.
From easy choices to impossible ones, women and girls share moments on their journeys from being daughters to becoming mothers - or not - and everything in between.
Featuring a diverse chorus of participants in a unique orchestration of true story and original music.
Directed by: Suli Holum
Associate Director: Nell Bang-Jensen
Composer: Mike Kiley
Photos by Johanna Austin
A farcical murder mystery with a gauzy, indie-pop score. Presented as part of César Alvarez's Polyphone Festival for emerging musicals.
Music and Lyrics by Greta Gertler Gold
Book and Lyrics by Akin Salawu
Director: Nell Bang-Jensen
Music Director: Amanda Morton
Choreographer: Amy Smith
Photos by Paola Nogueras
A young girl attempts suicide and wakes up trapped in a cosmic vaudevillian game show that she must win in order to enter the void of death. But the more Alameda wants to die, the harder she has to work—winning means she must confront avatars of scientific truth, ostentatious musical numbers, elaborate dance sequences, and acquaint herself with the enigmatic laws of the universe. From the creator of Futurity, comes a new not-your-traditional musical of up-tempo genre-bending songs and a healthy dose of the absurd in the search of why to exist when you no longer want to.
ELEMENTARY SPACETIME SHOW premiered in the 2016 FringeArts Festival in Philadelphia and was remounted in New York in May 2018 as a collaboration between NYU and Playwrights Horizons.
Nell Bang-Jensen served as Dramaturg on the world premiere, and Associate Director on the remount in NYC.
Music & Words: César Alvarez
Director: Andrew Neisler
Choreographers: Sonya Tayeh & Ben Hobbs
Costumes: Tilly Grimes
Lighting Design: Masha Tsimring
Photos by Paola Nogueras
(Original production credits)
Press:
A one-woman show that put audience members in the backseat of a car, took them on a road trip around Philadelphia, and asked how worst case scenarios inform how we navigate the world.
ROAD MAY FLOOD had a sold-out run at Philadelphia's SoLow Fest in June 2015. It was named a Top Pick of the festival by Phindie and City Paper, and was featured on the cover of the printed edition.
Created by Nell Bang-Jensen and Maura Krause
Photos by Tayarisha Poe
Press:
