Will You Please Hit Me?

Summer 2024
​Written and Directed by Jack Frederick
Devised in collaboration with Lia Bonfilio and Melissa Aquiles
A Jack and Melissa Production
Starring Lia Bonfilio, Melissa Aquiles, Matthew Dudley, Jacob A. Ware, Rory Cullen, Kim Savarino, Kathiana Casimir, Dash King, Josh Hurley, Pat Galante, Charles Zivancev, Gavin Price, Emily Pacilio, Florence Price

Gaffer Patrick Koehle
Production Audio Robyn Huey, Yves Albaret
Production Assistance Liam Klinkenberg, Sarah Blush
Hair/ Makeup Becca Low
Intimacy Coordination Lia Bonfilio
Post Production Jack Frederick
Color Sodalite Color
Sound Design Grand Old Flag Recording Company and Polar Sound
Special Thanks To Maureen Rodgers, Debbie Holloway, DW Burnett, Anna Lockhart, Davy Gardner, Art Society of Kingston, Jacquie Cosgrove, David Weber, Bethany Caputo, and Terry Knickerbocker.

Jack and Melissa Comedy
Showcasing original characters, parodies, and entirely too many wigs, Jack and Melissa's sketch comedy has been featured on Cracked, Vulture, Refinery29, and many more. From their breakout viral parody of Queer Eye to their series on the wedding industry, Jack and Melissa Get Married, their videos continue to reach thousands of people per day. Produced in tandem with an award-winning live show at The Upright Citizens Brigade, The People's Improv Theater, Under St. Mark's, The Tank Theater, Club Cumming, Union Hall, and countless others.

Potato Girl

"Well a potato fell out of a bag
and rolled right down the street.
​But when lightning struck the potato,
the potato became a girl."
​
So begins the epic tale of a young potato/girl struggling with depression, alienation, the cruel whims of fate, and finding love in the big city.​ How do you deal with yourself in a world that doesn’t know how to deal with you? By honoring your roots?

Written and directed by Jack Frederick and starring Melissa Aquiles and Brittany Lee McDonald and Michael Delisle of Home Sweet Home, this made-for-the-internet micro-series combines absurdity, heart, stomach churning puns, a very catchy bespoke musical theme. 

Real Mugs Of My Kitchen

Filmed in the pandemic, this vertical series lets us into the salacious, back-stabbing, glamorous lives of the mugs in my kitchen cabinet. ​With an all-star cast of voice actors (Lauren Brickman, Margaret Burrus, Christine Piniero, Melissa Aquiles) RMOMK blends Jack and Melissa’s honest love for reality TV, the hilarity of pandemic production restraints, and (would you believe) a bespoke song "Full of Steam" sung by the series' head-turning breakout talent/ mug- Etsy.

Live Theater / Immersive

Wood Music

Written by Jack Frederick, John Gasper
​Directed by Elena Araoz
Great Plains Theater Conference, Omaha, Nebraska
Written in collaboration with Obie Award winner John Gasper and directed by multi-award winning Drama League member Elena Araoz, Wood Music created an immersive theatrical journey amidst sentimental, metaphorical, and at times even factual history of a Nebraska landmark, The Florence Mill. With production led by Kevin Lawler and the Great Plains Theater Conference and featuring innovative design by Justin Townshend, Angelica Borrero, Sarah Johnston, Mark Kanieff, Seung Kyu Shim, Evan Spiegelman, audience members could explore the history of the mill in a tactile and interactive way. And with the help of musicians Aaron Markley, Anna McClellen, and Daniel Ocanto, and utilizing custom made Midi-triggers embedded in the walls of the mill, audience members could play the very structure of the building itself like an instrument. Combined with transformative performances by a motley crew of actors from across the country and culminating in a burlesque performance by Omaha favorites The Hot Tail Honey's, Wood Music created a hilarious, absurd, joyous, serene, and touching look at the history of the men and women who found, founded, and confounded the town of Florence, Nebraska.

Arryoya

Written and Directed by Jack Frederick
Devised in collaboration with Gavin Price and Daniel Carroll
Dixon Place, NYC
When their captain throws himself overboard with the ship's radio, Larry and Gallagher are forced to come to terms with the bizarre and supernatural phenomena that begin to descend upon their vessel. Arryoya is an off-the-wall dark comedy with as many laughs as there are ghosts (that is to say- a great many). Devised in collaboration with members of the St. Fortune Collective and premiering at Dixon Place, Arryoya is a hilarious, disturbing story about madness, gaslighting, the paranormal, and turtles. Arryoya was subsequently produced as part of the Glass Eye Theater Company's reading series.

Unloaded For Bear

Written and Directed by Jack Frederick
St. Fortune Collective
On an African safari gone horribly wrong. Robert and Claire Schelldon’s strenuous mariage, as well as their haughty, cerebral personalities do not mesh well with the feverishly passionate Doctor Horace Gifford. When Doctor Gifford begins to feel the agitation of a snake-bite, an elusive lion, and a mixture of sexual and group tensions, he begins to act irrationally and violently, forcing Robert and Claire to reconsider both married life and the life of the mind. Part Heart of Darkness, part Green Hills of Africa, part Uncle Vanya, this site-specific piece transformed a vacant lot in Western New York into the Serengeti. Utilizing real-time sound design by a live foley artist and drummer and featuring breathtaking lighting design incorporating fire, the setting sun, and the headlights of a Jeep, Unloaded For Bear created a multi-sensorial, transportive experience.

Fallow House

Written by Daniel Carroll
Directed by Jack Frederick
Bridge Theater at Shetler Studios, NYC
In this devised alcohol-and-resentment-fueled frantic drama, a family is forced to reconcile their buried past on moving day.  Produced as part of Roots and Wings Theatrical's Duct Tape and a Dream Festival, Fallow House featured an all-star ensemble of actors, raw passionate performances, and heartfelt cerebral language by playwright and screenwriter Daniel Carroll. Utilizing improvisation and movement, Jack and Danny experimented with a devising process, taking the actors impulses and personalities and converting them into a gripping narrative.

How To Get Out Of Your Own Head

Written by Marshall Fine
Directed by Jack Frederick
State of Play Productions, NYC
An awkward love story performed by Leah Henoch and Sanford Wilson involving wine, anxiety, and yo-yo's. Written with equal parts empathy and hilarity by Film critic and journalist Marshall Fine, How To Get Out Of Your Own Head premiered as part of State of Play Productions' How To Festival in New York City.

When Gods Walk The Earth

Written by Carrie Nutt
Directed by Jack Frederick
Manhattan Repertory Theater Company
​WINNER Best Director Award
Written by Carrie Nutt and featuring an incredible cast of young actors, none quite as young as their 23 year old director, When Gods Walk The Earth premiered at the Manhattan Repertory Theater's One Act Play Festival, winning the audience prize for Best Directing.