Actor, Poet, Playwright, Educator

Longtime Community Partner, Modesto Flako Jimenez, has been a part of the Starr since our earliest days, when his support helped lay the groundwork for what we've become. A passionate advocate for theaters like the Starr, Flako has long championed our mission, offering not only his generosity but also his unwavering belief in the value of our work. His steadfast commitment to the Bushwick community through his theater company ¡Oye! Groupand his partnership with the Starr has been transformative.

Writer, Arts Journalist, Revada Foundation Board President

Longtime partner Liz Logan and the Revada Foundation have been steadfast champions of the Starr's education and community programs, particularly Big Green Theater, for more than a decade. Through her leadership at the Foundation, Liz has helped make high-quality arts experiences accessible to young people across the country, building lasting partnerships with organizations in major cities, rural communities, and tribal lands. Her generosity, vision, and enduring belief in the power of the arts have had a lasting impact on the Starr and the communities we serve.

Director, Writer, Founding Artistic Director of the TEAM

Rachel Chavkin is a director, sometime writer and founding artistic director of Brooklyn-based experimental collective, the TEAM whose work has been seen all over NY, the U.S., and internationally, and whose consensus-driven writing process was the subject of a feature length documentary. She won the 2019 Tony Award for her work on Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (Broadway, NYTW, National Theatre, London). She is a three-time Obie Winner, and received Tony and Lortel nominations, and a Drama Desk Award for Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway, Ars Nova, A.R.T.). Select projects: Sarah Gancher’s Eugene Onegin: A Bluegrass Musical (T2 in Arkansas), a musical adaptation of Ritesh Batra’s glorious film, The Lunchbox with composers Daniel and Patrick Lazour (Berkeley Rep), The Bengson’s My Joy is Heavy (NYTW), Carson Kreitzer’s and Matt Gould’s Lempicka (Broadway 2024), the TEAM’s Mission Drift (National Theatre), Arthur Miller’s American Clock (Old Vic), the TEAM’s RoosevElvis (Royal Court), Larissa Fasthorse’s The Thanksgiving Play (2ST, 1st play by a known Native American woman on Broadway), Lilianna Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself — co-directed with Padilla and Steph Paul (NYTW), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (LCT; Obie Award, Drama Desk and Lortel noms.), Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova and national tour), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, Heather Christian, the Bengsons, and Manchester-based writer/performer Chris Thorpe. Her first short film, Remind Me, was an official selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity.

Stage & Film Actor

Michael Zegen is perhaps best known for playing “Joel Maisel” in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. The critically acclaimed Amazon series won him 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Over the course of its five seasons, the show itself won 22 Emmys, 5 Critics' Choice Awards, 3 Golden Globes, and a Peabody, among many other nominations, honors, and accolades. On stage, Michael made his Broadway debut as “Marco” in Ivo Van Hove's Tony-award winning revival of A View From The Bridge, opposite Mark Strong. His more recent theater credits include Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theater, and the Tony-Nominated Broadway revival of Alice Childress’s Trouble In Mind at Roundabout Theater Company's Todd Haimes Theater. Prior to that, he originated roles in The New Group's productions of The Spoils, written by and co-starring Jesse Eisenberg, and Duncan Sheik’s musical adaptation of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, both directed by Scott Elliott. He also originated the role of “Liam Haber” in Joshua Harmon's smash hit Bad Jews, directed by Daniel Aukin for Roundabout. For television, Michael was included in the 2015 SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series for his standout role as “Benny ‘Bugsy’ Siegel” on HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Other television includes recurring arcs in Lena Dunham’s Too Much, The Penguin, The Walking Dead, Girls, How To Make It In America, Happyish, and all seven seasons of FX’s Rescue Me. Michael’s film credits include Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, opposite Greta Gerwig, The Stand-In opposite Drew Barrymore, Michael Mayer's adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull, opposite Annette Bening and Elisabeth Moss, John Crowley's Oscar-Nominated Brooklyn, opposite Saoirse Ronan, Sebastian Silva's Sundance drama Tyrel, Greg Mottola's Adventureland, Simon Hacker's Notice To Quit, and Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock. Upcoming films include the indie black comedy Thumb, as well as a feature adaptation of Trouble In Mind, directed by Charles Randolph Wright.