The Tentacles
Michael Francis has spent 20 years in non profit and commercial theater as a multi-hyphenate theater administrator specializing in fundraising, general management, talent representation and producing. He spent 12 years as a team member of Fiasco Theater. Notable Fiasco works include Cymbeline (Theatre for a New Audience/Barrow Street/Broad Stage/Folger Theatre); Into the Woods (McCarter Theatre/Old Globe/Roundabout/Menier Chocolate Factory/NETworks); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Folger Theatre/Theatre for a New Audience); The Imaginary Invalid (Old Globe); Measure for Measure (The New Victory/The Long Wharf); Tweflth Night (Classic Stage Company); Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout). As a core member of Producer Hub he manages the Fiscal Sponsorship program which serves over 30 artists, arts organizations and social justice initiatives. Michael spent a decade as a part of the staff of Leading Artists, Inc. a boutique talent agency in NYC.
Michael Francis
Business Manager
taneisha is an artist working at the crossroads of performance and creative leadership. As a director her work lends itself to provocative interpretations of new works and classics. As a producer and arts administrator, she is propelled by the belief that the culture we present is the society we become. Select Directing credits: Jesus Hopped the "A" Train (University of Hartford) Blue Door (Juilliard) Actually (TheaterWorks Hartford), Hooded: or Being Black for Dummies (Juilliard), workshop readings (INK'D Festival at Playwright's Realm, newWORKS TheaterWorks Hartford). Select Producing credits: NYTimes Critic picks WALDEN by Amy Berryman and RUSSIAN TROLL FARM by Sarah Gancher; PROXIMITY by Harrison David Rivers (commission). She trained as an actor at SUNY - Purchase College in The School of Theater Arts and Film, and has appeared on regional stages in Connecticut and New York, including TheaterWorks Hartford, Long Wharf and LaMama. She is a 2016 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow, mama of two boys and believer in radical love-filled disruption.
Taneisha Duggan
Associate Producer
Mara Isaacs is a Tony® and Grammy® Award winning producer and founder of Octopus Theatricals, an independent production company dedicated to fostering an expansive range of compelling theatrical works for local, national and international audiences. She has produced over 150 productions that have been seen on Broadway (Hadestown, The Inheritance, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Translations, Anna in the Tropics, Electra), offBroadway (Hadestown, Fiasco Theater’s Into The Woods, The Brother/Sister Plays, Crowns), at theaters and performing arts centers around the US and the world (UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America, South Africa, Canada). She currently oversees more than 20 projects on the Octopus roster including Iphigenia a new opera by Wayne Shorter and esperanza spalding; Social! Dance Club conceived by Steven Hoggett, Christine Jones & David Byrne; THEATRE FOR ONE; Dreaming Zenzile by Somi Kakomal; And So We Walked by DeLanna Studi; An Iliad starring Denis O’Hare; and many others. Mara is co-founder of Producer Hub, a proud founding member of CIPA (Creative and Independent Producer Alliance), and co-founder of Sing It Again Records, an indie record label founded in 2019. She previously served as Producing Director at McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, NJ for 18 seasons and produced new play development programs and productions for Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
She founded Octopus Theatricals in 2013.
photo credit T. Charles Erickson
Mara Isaacs
Founder and Executive/Creative Producer
Adam Hyndman is a Tony Award winning producer, as well as a performer, director, and activist who has worked extensively in the arts. Some notable credits include: NBC’s THE SING OFF, CHILDREN OF EDEN in concert at The Kennedy Center, ALADDIN on Broadway, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND on Broadway, HADESTOWN on Broadway, THE INHERITANCE on Broadway, and HERE LIES LOVE on Broadway.
He incubates projects as an independent producer as well as within the team at Octopus Theatrical. Adam is on the board of directors for both Pipeline Theatre Company and Producer Hub, and he continues his work of disruption, radical accessibility, and conciliation as a co-founder of The Industry Standard Group and its subsidiary; Second Act Theatrical Capital, the first accessible community investment and producing entity for commercial theater. Adam is also a creative and organizational consultant; having served as an equity strategy consultant with Groundwater Arts, and also as the project manager for RISE Theatre; an initiative of Maestra Music and The Miranda Family Fund, which creates an industry wide database to provide greater visibility and amplification for all professionals backstage, behind the scenes, and in support of theater making (Adam was named as one of Variety Magazine’s 10 Broadway Stars to watch for the 2023-24 season for his work with RISE Theatre). www.adamhyndman.com
Adam Hyndman
Associate Producer
Kelly Letourneau is a New York City-based performer, playwright, and arts administrator. As an administrator, Kelly has worked with Primary Stages, Fiasco Theater, and The Shakespeare Academy @ Stratford. Behind the scenes, Kelly has experience as a stage manager, playwright’s assistant, and house manager. As a performer, Kelly has appeared off-Broadway, regionally and on tour. Theater credits include: A VALENTINE FOR SONDHEIM (Fiasco Theater), MIDSUMMER (Tiltyard), PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Kate Hamill (Playhouse on Park), and THE APPLE BOYS (HERE Arts Center). Kelly has trained with Fiasco Theater, at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and she holds a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. www.kellyletourneau.com
Bryan Hunt has been an Associate Producer and Production Coordinator for Octopus Theatricals since 2014, wearing many hats as a Production Manager, Company Manager and Producer. From 2016-2021, Bryan was the Director of the Apprentice Actor Training Program at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN, directing several productions, and developing a program for future artists to learn as they enter the field. Bryan was the Associate Director for the world premiere of the Tony winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the McCarter Theater, Lincoln Center Theater and on Broadway. In addition to Vanya and Sonia…, he has served as Associate and Assistant Director at several regional theaters including Westport Country Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Arena Stage, Goodman Theater, Dallas Theater Center, ACT San Francisco, Center Theatre Group in L.A., and more. He has a passion for creating space for artists to thrive and cultivate their work. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from Southern Methodist University.
Bryan Hunt
Associate Producer/Production Coordinator
Kendra Holloway is a New York City-based actor, writer, and content creator with a great deal of experience in front of and behind the scenes. As an arts administrator, she has worked for notable theater and media companies including Primary Stages, the Apollo Theater, and Tyler Perry Studios. She has an extensive background in the areas of copywriting, fundraising, social media management, facility sales, and high-level production support. As a performer, Kendra has appeared off-Broadway, in regional theater, and on television. Theater credits include Before It Hits Home (Billie Holiday Theatre), Stick Fly ( Meadow Brook Theatre), and Salt Pepper Ketchup (InterAct Theatre/Passage Theatre). Notable television credits include For Life (ABC), Definitely Divorcing (TVOne), and Salty Pirate (Ficto). Kendra is the recipient of the 2019 Andes Award for Favorite Female Performer in a Drama for her work at Meadow Brook Theatre. She holds a BA in Mass Media Arts from Clark Atlanta University. Kendra also has a deep love for documentaries of every genre.
Kendra Holloway
Executive Assistant
Kelly Letourneau
Producing Associate
