In this Edition:

• The Rat Gala-Thon is a HIT!

• “New Year, New Work” Coming Soon

• Meet the Underground Theatre Alliance Team!

• 2025: A Recap and Review

• What Willy Said:

Hey! Are you a playwright? A friend of a playwright? Would you like to workshop your New Work™* at an intimate gathering with real-life actors?

You're in luck! We, The Underground Theatre Alliance, are looking for playwrights & friends of playwrights who would like to workshop their New Work™ at an intimate gathering with real-life actors!

Send us your scripts! Send us your friends! Send us your friend's scripts!

Throughout the year (2026!!) The Underground Theatre Alliance will host a series of gatherings to workshop New Work™! If that sounds interesting to you, let's connect! We'll let you know soon when our first workshop is and for what script. And regardless of the script, we'd love to see you there…

*Trademark pending

**Trademark not actually pending

JULIA CAHN

General Manager

Written by Kiera Egan

Although Julia is the newest addition to The Underground Theatre Alliance business team, she is certainly not the newest member of The UTA. Julia’s lore with the company is 10 years deep, starring as Lady Macbeth in the Laura Clinton-directed Macbeth at Rockland Community College in 2015. Julia officially joined our silly little troupe in 2024 with Julius Caesar, giving the audience a performance of a lifetime with Marc Antony (did you know she can cry on cue??*). But beyond being a great actor, Julia is an incredibly organized, diligent, and creative person. She graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with a degree in Engineering Management and a hell of a lot of experience in producing and performing shows. In her role as General Manager, Julia will help all of us THRIVE by ensuring projects are managed, goals are met, and communication is active and constructive. Since onboarding, Julia has already increased production efficiency by 10000% with no signs of that diminishing†. As we move into the new year and beyond, if you ever see what The UTA is up to and think, “wow, they’re SO much more legit now,” just know that Julia Cahn is very likely responsible; we love her, and we are so very lucky she loves us all back, too.

* Julia denies this claim, but I’m not sure how else you would describe a person’s ability to cry without fail every time it’s needed**

** And I’m talking about Elizabethan-style melodrama. These weren’t particularly gut-wrenching scenes.

† I’m not our numbers guy, but these numbers are, in fact, 10000% accurate.

FIONA EGAN

Financial Manager

Written by Laura Clinton

Often referred to as “the voice of reason” within The Underground Theatre Alliance, Fiona has been a core member of the team since our group’s inception back in 2013. She has been featured both on and offstage in productions such as A Doll’s House, How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them, Julius Caesar, and more. Fiona’s primary responsibilities include creating and managing our company’s budget, as well as lecturing the creative team when they do not adhere to said budget. She has also been known to lend her talents in areas like costume design and the creation/implementation of mime makeup looks. She has a BS in accounting, an MBA in Finance, and studied Economics at Oxford University, all of which are incredibly impressive. Beyond her iconic credentials, Fiona is an amazing friend and beautiful diva who works tirelessly to keep this group grounded in reality while reaching for the stars.

KIERA EGAN

Director of Community Outreach

Written by Daniel Walton

At the heart of The Underground Theatre Alliance is Kiera Egan, gluing company members together and glitter to surfaces. Kiera manages our community building, education initiatives (duh), and alliance communication—this!* The thing that you’re reading right now. Whether it’s on social media, in our newsletter, or elsewhere, the reason you are reading this is Kiera Egan. Be you a company member, fan, friend, or foe (??), Kiera is hard at work to make sure you feel connected to us. Creative and compassionate, Kiera is to her core a community-centered team-player who leads from the heart.

Kiera is a founding member of The UTA and in the last year alone has worn an innumerable number of hats: the “grumpy murder sister” hat, the “Joan Jett eating a heart in the marketplace,” hat, the “head of a small shell-themed moving company,” and whatever hat as she’s wearing right now as she’s approving this for our newsletter**. Kiera is an English and History Teacher with a B.A. in both English & Psychology from St. Thomas Aquinas College. She is deeply passionate about—& Oxford trained on 😲† —Shakespeare & the classics, and will be “SO CHILL” if you question Shakespeare's authorship‡.

If you know The UTA, you know Kiera Egan. Now, get ready to know a whole lot of her, and us. She'll be in touch ;)

* No, that wasn’t ChatGPT—I LIKE the em-dash, and I’m sure as hell am gonna need one to describe the incomparable Kiera Egan.

** I am AWARE that the hat metaphor is falling apart at the seams (somebody call the milliner!), but she does a lot of things!

† Another one. Sue me, robot. SUE ME.

‡ No, really, do it. Tell her Shakespeare was Francis Bacon. Do it. Bring up the Earl of Oxford.

LAURA CLINTON

Artistic Director & Founder

Written by Fiona Egan

Laura Clinton has been rebelling against expectations as the Artistic Director of The Underground Theatre Alliance since founding it in 2013. Nobody expected much to come from a student-run Shakespeare club, not even a single performance, but Laura has turned that club into directing/producing “literally countless” shows (but 12 of them are definitely Shakespeare) and a thriving artistic community. Despite warnings from literally everyone, Laura pursued elite training to follow her dreams with a BA in Theatre Arts with a double concentration in Directing & Stage/Production Management at Marymount Manhattan College.

With her unique blend of sitcom-esque charisma and disarming sincerity, Laura has a way of plucking the humanity out of even the densest of text while pushing the boundaries of storytelling. Her shows leave audiences asking themselves existential questions such as: what if the world were full of horny mimes? Or, are sorority house conflicts similar to those of ancient dictators and generals? And, should I be doing theater with these weirdos?

Beyond being a visionary with clear technical skill, Laura’s unwavering passion inspires the creative defiance of our alliance, and it is that passion that will help shape the future of The Underground Theatre Alliance.

DANIEL WALTON

Artistic Director

Written by Julia Cahn

One cannot talk about Daniel’s capabilities as an artistic director without first considering his skills as a person. He brings an incomparable level of care and humanity to any task or conversation, including but certainly not limited to those that fall under his newfound executive responsibilities, which range from season planning to directing and cast management to graphic design. Basically, anything that needs a touch of compassion or a handful of whimsy!

At the heart of Daniel’s work is a belief in ensemble-driven theatre and inclusive storytelling. He consistently centers collaboration, curiosity, and trust in the creative process, building spaces where artists feel empowered to take risks and tell stories that reflect and engage the communities around us.

Daniel has been with The Underground Theatre Alliance for far too long- starting with his UTA acting debut in Two Gentlemen of Verona in 2023, all the way through co-directing All’s Well that Ends Well this past fall. Armed with a BFA in Drama from NYU and a heart full of gold, they have already made a lasting impact as a leader of the Alliance, and we could not imagine doing this without them!

JANUARY

Almost 1 year ago today, The Underground Theatre Alliance threw the cuntiest bash in DUMBO with our sorority-inspired Julius Caesar production. This show was momentous for several reasons: it marked our first show using The Rat as our venue space, and the first time Daniel Walton co-directed with Laura Clinton. We saw the return of old friends to the UTA stage in Julia Cahn and Fiona Egan, and gained new Alliance members with incredible people such as Lily Lipman, Amelie Eckert, Audrey Owen, and Zaina Shariff. Plus, it was simply cool. as. hell. Julius Caesar and the rest of the Romans DID play petty social games as much as they slayed their enemies — so our campy, girlie, and gory interpretation of the classic felt apropos, while still maintaining that trademark UTA irreverence. Goooooooo Delta Roma!!

JUNE

One of the brightest spots of The Underground Theatre Alliance’s 2025 year was the introduction of our first-annual fundraising event, the Juneboree variety show and party. Held at The Rat, the event featured an eclectic mix of performance acts, including stand-up comedy, singing, dancing, improv, storytelling, mimery, and more. The event also had a picnic-at-the-start-of-summer vibe to it, with plenty of jam cookies and raffle baskets filled with gingham-patterned accessories. While Juneboree was certainly a celebration of our company’s varied and impressive talents, it was also a heartwarming display of our community's patronage. As we headed into a laborious production period with All’s Well That Ends Well, we were grateful to take the financial and emotional support we received from Juneboree with us.

AUGUST

In case you were afraid we were just a bunch of Shakespeare nerds, we decided to round out the summer season by bringing you “The Roast of William Shakespeare” to prove that we’re just like the regular folk who think he is stuffy and overrated. Have we admired him long enough and genuinely enough to make fun of him accurately? Sure, yeah, ok. Do we see the irony in throwing an entire event centered around him to prove we don’t put him on a pedestal? Sure, yeah, ok. So, did we exude the vibes of a young pastor who sits backwards in his chair to tell teens how relatable Jesus is? Sure, yeah, PROBABLY, but it was still lots of fun. Longtime UTA members Kiera Egan and Paolo Ragusa tried their hands at stand-up for the first time. Veteran stand-up comedian Bailey Whitehead made her second appearance with The UTA, and we were also lucky to forge new relationships with some hilarious voices in NYC stand-up, such as Eythen Anthony, Aran Abilock Clemmons, Sydney Kaehler, Carolyn Oursler, and Amy Savino. It was so fun to be in the presence of such comedic talents, and we look forward to another UTA stand-up event in the future!

OCTOBER

Our last major production of 2025 was All’s Well That Ends Well, arguably our most ambitious project to date. Performed at G Gallery in Soho, All’s Well That Ends Well was a multi-media extravaganza. Not only was the show set in front of a 15-piece gallery connected to the characters and themes of the play, but there was also an assortment of magical moments during the performance, including a 4 ft. wide paper-mache clam shell for a Birth of Venus scene, or an on-stage “Pollocking” of the character Parolles. This show also marked the first UTA show for several people: Renee Hapeman, Clarissa Hernandez, Neysa Lozano, Erin Sullivan, and Rebecca Wolf, all of whom have been wonderful additions to our artistic community. So much love, time, energy, and creativity were poured into this project, and the result was a visually beautiful piece that elicited deep thought as much as it elicited laughter.

“Be not a borrower nor a lender be, donate some money to The Rat NYC.”

~ William Shakespeare, who is clearly feeling generous this holiday szn