front porch arts collective Leadership team
DAWN M. SIMMONS
she/her/hers Co-Producing Artistic Director Dawn M. Simmons (She/Her/Hers) - is an award-winning director, producer, playwright, administrator, cultural consultant, and educator. As a director Dawn has worked with Alliance Theater, The Huntington, JAG Productions, Play On Shakespeare, The Hangar Theatre and WAM Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Company One, Central Square Theater, New Repertory
Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Bad Habit Productions, New Exhibition Room, Boston Public Works, Fresh Ink Theatre, The Theater Offensive, Our Place Theatre Project, and Fort Point Theatre Channel and many others. Over the last decade Dawn has used her own artistic practice to push the New England theatre community to examine and address the problems of systemic racism, sexism, sexual violence and homophobia that has been internalized in our work environments through programs like Line Drawn, The Gender Explosion Initiative and the Do Better Initiative (Currently Anti- Racism Resources) under StageSource where she served for 2.5 years as Executive Director. Her work has prompted the sector to hold itself accountable and work together to reduce harm caused in our workspaces the ripples of her work are still felt today. In 2008 Dawn co-founded her first theatre company, New Exhibition Room whose mission was to produce provocative, political, and affordable theater events. Dawn has served as adjunct faculty at Northeastern University and has been a guest lecturer at Boston College and guest artist at Berklee Conservatory,Suffolk University, Brandeis University, and Harvard University. She has authored/co-authored think pieces on anti-racist practice, accountability and reducing sexual harm in the workplace, has been interviewed by The Boston Globe, WBUR and other news outlets to speak on racial equity in the performing arts and has been a featured speaker for American Alliance for Theatre Education, New England Foundation for the Arts, Network of Arts Administrators of Color,The Boston Globe, Multicultural Bridge, The City of Boston, Boston College, Northeastern University, UMass Boston, Berklee Boston Conservatory, Philanthropy Massachusetts, Mass General Hospital and more. Click here to contact Dawn |
MAURICE EMMANUEL PARENT
he/him/his Co-Producing Artistic Director Maurice Emmanuel Parent is an award-winning actor, director, educator and mentor with 20 years of professional experience. He has over 40 acting credits at theatres across the nation and abroad, having performed with some of Boston’s oldest and most respected companies such as the Huntington Theatre Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, New Repertory Theatre, and Central Square Theater among others. His work as an actor / director has earned him three Elliot Norton Awards from The Boston Theater Critics Association, three Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) awards, and an ArtsImpulse Award. Parent’s history as an educator extends back over a decade. He’s taught for Northeastern University, MIT, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and spent 6 years as a Performing Arts Specialist in the Boston Public School System. He was named the Boston College Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J. Professor in Theatre Arts for 2018-2019 and a Tufts University Neubauer Faculty Fellow for the 2019-2020 academic year. Currently Parent is a full time Professor of the Practice in the Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies.
Click here to contact Maurice |
PASCALE FLORESTAL
she/her/hers Director of Education Pascale Florestal is a first generation Haitian American Queer Woman. She is a three time Elliot Norton Nominated Director. She is also an Educator, Dramaturg, Writer and Collaborator based in Boston, MA. Recent Directing Credits: Next to Normal with
Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective, MidSummer; Kinda? Written and Directed by Pascale Florestal at Suffolk University, World Premiere of Phaedra Michelle Scott’s DIASPORA! with New Repertory Theater, Magic Flute with MassOpera, Fairview with SpeakEasy Stage, Spring Awakening at Brandeis University, The Colored Museum with The Umbrella Performing Arts Center, Once On This Island with SpeakEasy Stage, This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing with Emerson Stage, Everybody with Boston Conservatory and others. As an Assistant to the Director she has worked with Timothy Douglas, Liesl Tommy, Billy Porter, Paul Daigneault and M. Bevin O'Gara. Pascale served as the Associate Director to Gil Rose on X:The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Odyssey Opera and Kimberly Senior on Our Daughters, Like Pillars at The Huntington. Pascale also served as the Associate Director for The Broadway National Tour of Jagged Little Pill. In 2021 Pascale was named one of the WBUR ARTery 25 Artists of Color Transforming the Cultural Landscape in Boston. In 2020 she won the Inaugural Greg Ferrell Award for her excellence in teaching and supporting young people. She serves as the Director of Education for Front Porch Arts Collective. She is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music and Visiting Guest Artist Professor in Practice in Theater at Suffolk University. SDC Click here to contact Pascale |
DONOVAN HOLT
he/him/his Associate Producer Donovan Holt is a director, actor, and producer. Originally from Chicago, he is a Northeastern graduate with a degree in Theatre, concentrating in performance, and a minor in Human Movement Science. He was a part of the College of Arts Media and Design’s 2024 Undergraduate Group Creative and Research Project Award winning team for Exception to the Rule as the Director. He is also the recipient of the Eugene Blackman Scholarship for Outstanding Achievement in the Art of Theatre, Garnet Award, and the prestigious Huntington 100.
D. A. is the Associate Producer for Front Porch Arts Collective, and is also a freelance Casting Director and Audition Coach as well. D.A has worked with many regional theaters including Front Porch Arts Collective, The Huntington, Greater Boston Stage Company, Central Square Theater, The Goodman, and more. Click here to contact Donovan |
MAGGIE MOORE ABDOW
she/her/hers Development Consultant Maggie Moore Abdow is a Fundraising professional in the arts, education and culture sector. Maggie has worked in the sector, predominantly theater, for over 20 years. Her collage of experience as an educator, director, and administrator informs her fundraising
strategic approach. In addition to her role as Director of Development at Central Square Theater, Maggie leads and serves on multiple committees elevating arts and culture advocacy at the municipal and state levels. Maggie specializes in cultivating donor relationships with individuals and organizations alike. Maggie holds a BFA and MA in theater education from Emerson College and is a former Massachusetts certified teacher in K-12 theater. Click here to contact Maggie |
Isabelle Bushkov
she/her/hers Development Coordinator Isabelle Bushkov (she/her) is a Boston-based actor and development coordinator. As the Development and Event Coordinator for Front Porch Arts Collective, she helps coordinate the company's fundraising efforts through event planning, grant management, and social media initiatives. Originally from San Francisco, she moved to Boston to study at Northeastern University, where she graduated with a degree in Theatre and a minor in Film Production. She has previously worked with Company One Theatre and the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General in a Communications
capacity. As an actor, she has worked with Dream Role Players and performs seasonally with History Alive, Inc. Salem. Outside of work, she volunteers part-time with the Boston Media Artists Collective (BMAC), an initiative to unite Greater Boston artists for creative projects, community, and employment. Click here to contact Isabelle |
