Eric Quang Gelb

🪩🛼✨ The Art Farm at Serenbe & Eric Quang Gelb present XANADU ✨🛼🪩

HAIRSPRAY at @DrPhillipsCtr - Sizzle Reel 📸: @sublimeimage CREATIVE Directed by Eric Quang Gelb Music Director: Alex Pollard Choreography: Kim Ball and Shane Bland Costume Designer: Allison Crutchfield Scenic Designer: C.J. Sikorski Lighting Designer: Keith Sales Jr. Sound Design: Justin Kersey Wig Designer: Eric Quang Gelb Creative Line Producer: Khristy Chamberlain PRODUCTION Director, Production: Don Teer Director, Production: Dw Perkins Technical Director: Kevin Griffin Associate Technical Director: Rich Neu Manager, Audio: Pat Dalton Supervisor, Lighting: Emily-Ann Stephens Production Manager: Alyssa Marinello Production Stage Manager: Olivia Perez Assistant Stage Manager: Mary McDermott Video Engineer: Josh Cassady Head of Wigs: Sabrina Yager Wig Team: Levi Caldwell IATSE LOCAL 631 Lonnie Moench, Head Carpenter Miguel A. De Jesus, Head Props Gary Simpson, Head Fly RESIDENT ARTIST INTERNS Assistant Directors: Gabriella Headley, Milan Borges, Cole Higginbotham Assistant Choreographers: Joshua Fermin, Jayme Dills Assistant Music Directors: Jayna Glynn, Devin McDuffy Assistant Costume Design: Sam Sherrard EDUCATION Foster Cronin - VP, Programming and Education Ryan Simpson - Director, Education Sara York - Senior Manager, Education Tatiana Bello - School of the Arts Manager, Education Brooke Saad - Manager, Education Gabrielle Lawlor - School of the Arts Supervisor, Education Griffin DeVries - Coordinator, Education Cecil Caballero Krause, Angela Caputo, Rebecca Deturris, Brittany Zevallos - Greeters, Education SPECIAL THANKS Kaitlin Hannah Drops Designs Paul Miller, Assistant Lighting Designer - HAIRSPRAY on Broadway Jesse Miech, 11th Hour Printing Richard Smith, Xerographic Printing Naveed Ahmed Video Editing Alex Sansolo

MEAN GIRLS at @DrPhillipsCtr Sizzle —- I spend a ton of time on sizzles because as a director it’s the only way for us to get more work. Endless thanks and recommendation for 🎥 Footage by @sublimeimage , a dear friend and colleague from the theme parks. Absolutely crushed the assignment. — Directed by Eric Quang Gelb Choreographed by Ellie Potts Barrett Music Directed by Alex Pollard Production Stage Manager - Cheyenne Young Assistant Stage Manager - Delayna Wahlberg Technical Director - Kevin Griffin Production Manager - Matt Reardon Creative Line Producer - Khristy Chamberlain Scenic Designer - Lauren Cushman Lighting Designer - Matt McGregor Costume Designer - Ali Crutchfield Assistant Costume Designer - Paula Espinosa Wig & Hair Designer - Eric Quang Gelb Sound Designer - Robert Miller Assistant Sound Designer - Pat Dalton Audio Engineer - Justin Kersey Video Engineer - Kyle O’Toole Head Carpenter - Lonnie Moench IATSE 631 Assistant Directors - Alexa Fillalan, Zachary James Racine Assistant Music Directors - Jackson Chase, Daniel Porea Jr. Assistant Choreographers - Delaney Carroll, Amber Woollcott Dr. Phillips Center’s AdventHealth School of the Arts Foster Cronin Ryan Simpson Sara York Khristy Chamberlain Tatiana Bello Janai McKissick Griffin DeVries Angela Caputo #meangirls #meangirlsmusical #meangirlsbway #tinafey #sofetch #fetch #october3rd #worldburn #ratherbeme #meettheplastics #someonegetshurt #regina #reginageorge #gretchen #gretchenwieners #karensmith #karen #mynameiskaren #cadyheron #cady

Disney and Pixar’s FINDING NEMO at @OrlandoFamilyStage Artistic Director: @JeffreyRevels Executive Director: Chris Brown Directed by Eric Quang Gelb Music Directed by justin_hornback Choreographed by @llmansoori DESIGN Scenic: @topetaqatsi Costume: @daisymccarthytucker Lighting: @gjacksonlights Sound: @anthonynarciso Video: @ben_lowe Props: @tarakromer Puppets: @WhatIfPuppets Puppet Director & Select Designs @nicparkspuppetry PRODUCTION PM: Carrie Kasten Smith PSM: @_Michelle511_ ASM: Stephanie Britton Dir of Scenery - @tubular_stardust Dir of Prod. Tech - Justin Harmon Dir of Costumes - @alexandria_rose_v Prod. Tech Mgr - Stephen Jones Scene Shop Mgr - Brett Davis Costume Shop Mgr - Mary Sienko CAST @woodrow.helms - Marlin @rhyse_silvestro - Nemo @sarahannemae - Dory @annieoliviabanksmontes - Peach/Pearl/Coral @brmitchell19 - Bloat/Crush/Bruce/Ray @kaden_ramsaroop - Gurgle/Anchor/Tad @impossiblebrent - Gil/Sheldon/Chum/Tad @mel_beann - Squirt & Others Onstage Swings - @gabbyheadley @taylorsage @chaseandreae @calebjingo 📸: @sublimeimage

SEEKING NON-UNION AAPI CREATIVES & PERFORMERS FOR @OFCCREATION ’S MISS SAIGON As previously shouted from rooftops, I’ll be directing MISS SAIGON at @OFCCreations alongside @evaughnjohnson next season, and submissions are now open! Not exclusively - but especially - hoping to hear from my Vietnamese fam! I shared a bit about my personal connection to the show as a Viet artist, as well as our approach to the material, a few posts down. If you’re a performer: submit through the link in my bio, and let me know to keep an eye out for your name in the pile. If you’re interested in choreographing or dramaturgy: send me a DM or email. Please help spread the word and share throughout your communities to broaden our reach. There’s not a of shows that make room for us specifically, so for the rare ones that do, I want everyone to at least be aware of them! As always, Miss EQG will always prioritize TALENT over “look” or “type”. If you are plus size, queer or gender expansive, I want to hear from you. Just because someone like you hasn’t been tracked into the show historically doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen now. (If you don’t fit Saigon’s demo, OFC is also seeking both AEA and non-union for the rest of their season - Hairspray, Christmas Story, etc - right now. Check it out!) #misssaigon #ofccreations

Macy’s Floral Guides - YEAR 2️⃣! Now through May 10th, take a free tour of the 51st @Macys Flower Show featuring a star studded company. Grab a reservation before they’re gone! So proud of this team - and incredibly grateful to be making a little Macy’s Magic in our Year of Celebration. #macys #flowershow #macysflowershow

MARLIN: “But what if they’re not ready / I mean, how do you know?” CRUSH: “Well, you never really know / But if they’re ever gonna grow / You gotta let ‘em go / You know?” Getting to watch this beautiful story about family, bravery and letting go be told by our company (who are truly hoofing it) is a treat, period. To watch them tell it 8 times a week to nearly 250 kids each time, many in a theater for the first time in their lives, it’s the stuff of dreams. There is magic in that building. I feel it in every little hand outstretched, waving at Nemo every time he swims onstage. In each faint “Dory?” when she gets zapped by a jellyfish. And in my heart, when I see adults wipe a tear away and pull their kid in a little tighter when Nemo reunites with Marlin and says “dad? I don’t hate you.” Having to let go and leave the company to settle into their 40+ show run was hard - but comforted, by knowing that OFS is a rare and special organization: that lives and breathes its mission of affirming the importance of high-quality, professional, regional musical TYA. Disney and Pixar’s FINDING NEMO at @OrlandoFamilyStage Artistic Director: @JeffreyRevels Executive Director: Chris Brown   Directed by Eric Quang Gelb Music Directed by justin_hornback Choreographed by @llmansoori DESIGN Scenic: @topetaqatsi Costume: @daisymccarthytucker Lighting: @gjacksonlights Sound: @anthonynarciso Video: @ben_lowe Props: @tarakromer Puppets: @WhatIfPuppets Puppet Director & Select Designs @nicparkspuppetry   PRODUCTION PSM: @_Michelle511_ ASM: Stephanie Britton Dir of Scenery - @tubular_stardust Dir of Prod. Tech - Justin Harmon Dir of Costumes - @alexandria_rose_v Prod. Tech Mgr - Stephen Jones Scene Shop Mgr - Brett Davis Costume Shop Mgr - Mary Sienko CAST @woodrow.helms - Marlin @rhyse_silvestro - Nemo @sarahannemae - Dory @annieoliviabanksmontes - Peach/Pearl/Coral @brmitchell19 - Bloat/Crush/Bruce/Ray @kaden_ramsaroop - Gurgle/Anchor/Tad @impossiblebrent - Gil/Sheldon/Chum/Tad @mel_beann - Squirt & Others Onstage Swings - @gabbyheadley @taylorsage @chaseandreae @calebjingo 📸 by @rdresner10 📸 3 & 18 by @SnapsbyTrishPhotography

Welcome home, Benny and Milo. I don’t usually journal… But for some reason, last year, I decided to write down a goal I have always been too afraid to put into the universe: “debut a character to the world”. It’s been an honor to show direct, cast and work under our Executive Producer @willcoss_wc and Director of Creative Production @waywaw as we developed from the ground up two brand new, completely original characters to @Macys . In SIX WEEKS (from initial pitch to opening day). Benny and Milo (best Gardener you’ve ever met) were worth waiting for. Blending some of the best performers and puppeteers in the biz with state of the art technology, Benny will talk to you in real time when you meet him. WC & BK - thank you for your trust, advocacy and leadership. Statistically I should not be here - I don’t fit into a “box” as a director or human. This reminded me that the things that make me weird (encyclopedic obsession of how to close a character’s line) are my superpower. Characters and me go way back. They’re transcendent. I say that all we know about the guest is what we directly see and hear. We don’t know if we get to be part of one of the only positive moments of their day (or even childhood), or if their words (however simple) are the first they’ve ever spoken. The love, attention, individual interactions we make can’t be replicated with a screen. Designers @pepothewitch and @simonfisherfx - he is perfect. Management & Ops @jennverd , @trevor.aw and @robdigi88 - feeling this much trust and openness is a gift. @maitrancreative @rebacrea - he looks the part. I started in the parks using @animaxdesigns work every shift. They worked round the clock magic to bring him to life. Some of the best to ever do it @marksloniker , @mattis_ryan88 , @paulfly . This model keeps so many nerdy things in mind: scale, pre-conceived guest relationship, orientation… and it works. To my Opening Cast - may we all be so lucky to share more rooms with people who care so deeply about our work. The magic is YOU. @googiesone , @adamwdl , Doina Osborne, Nancy Hutson: thank you for your role model/proof of concept-ship, paving the way for a world where characters are important.

My parents adopted me from the Ty Liem Orphanage in Vietnam, bringing me to the US before I was one. They’re the most loving, thoughtful people I’ve ever met. Growing up in an interracial (I’m Asian & Vietnamese; they’re white) household, they waited until my senior year of high school to expose me to Miss Saigon. A story in which Kim, a Vietnamese woman, believes the only way her son will live the life he’s meant to live is if she leaves the American family no choice but to take him, by killing herself. Though I hope I’m wrong, I couldn’t find a single Vietnamese director in its 36-year history. I hope I’m not the first. I’m thrilled to be directing it at @OFCCreations next May 2027 alongside @evaughnjohnson (EVJ + EQG). I am so thankful and honored to work for him. @jaddeduong as Kim is a revelation. Maybe one day she’ll release the INSANE tape that booked her - it followed every note to a t, with an insane option and a single tear. She has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard, joining a single digit list of Vietnamese women who have played Kim professionally. @xmckinnon was my dream from day one. Sometimes dream casting is best left as that, but sometimes the tape makes it hard to see it any other way. I can’t wait for the world to see his nuanced Chris. Miss Saigon has certainly caused harm; nearly every Asian person I know has a “Saigon Story.” To say it hasn’t brought us so much, including great visibility - good and bad - wouldn’t be true. I asked myself: am I Viet enough? What does telling this story earn us? For our almost all-Asian company, it’s the first time they’ve been paid to do what they love among people who look like them. For most of our Rochester audience, it will be the first time they’re asked to interrogate the intersection of American and Asian history. That’s why I said yes. Reframing the story to add nuance to white saviorship through our casting of Chris and Ellen and centering a mother - Kim’s - unrelenting love (not victimhood) for her son. See you in a year. ☀️🌕

CASTING: Performers for @MACYS FLOWER SHOW 🌹 🌺 🌼 Yep, that’s them!! (The MFGs)!!! MFGs are back and I’m thrilled to be show directing this offering in its second year. Looking for chatty, confident, BFA MT coded types. Link in bio! —- The Macy’s Flower Show, now in its 51st year, is a three week experience at Macy’s Herald Square that features thousands of live flowers arranged in mesmerizing floral displays. This spring, experience Homegrown—our celebration of America’s 250th anniversary expressed through flowers, fiber & timeless handicrafts. The Macy’s Flower Show is pleased to offer free tours to offer a personalized walk-through of the show. Led by the Macy’s Floral Guides, the “MFGs” are a small group of performers cast, styled, trained and rehearsed by Macy’s Studios, designed to build a bridge between guests and the thousands of curated flowers that make up the Flower Show. Throughout the tour, Guides share creative content, story points, and more - offering genuine hospitality and a unique, intimate experience. —— We’re seeking performers with: • Warm, engaging personalities; charming, charismatic, confident and outgoing people that love to hold a room. • Comfortability performing/working in front of crowds large and small, as well as VIPs and executives. • Experience as a tour guide, in comedy, musical theatre, theme parks and/or cruise ships. • A knack for improvisation, “spieling” and performing in unconventional spaces. It is important to us that our team represents a wide variety of communities. We urge people from all different backgrounds to submit.

I’m thrilled to finally be at @OrlandoFamilyStage , directing Orlando’s regional premiere of FINDING NEMO: THE MUSICAL TYA! I went to NYU for Educational Theatre, so I wrote many a paper/presentation about the incredible work that Orlando Family Stage does. It is a leading regional TYA house, and truly encapsulates my belief of TYA’s social responsibility and opportunity to create lifelong lovers of the arts. It’s a crucial, accessible gateway to the art form - a necessary part of the ecosystem. I love commanding a standard of excellence “even” in this space - whether the average audience age is 6 or 60. The theme park version down the road at DAK is singular - it completely changed how corporate entertainment saw puppetry and musical adaptations inside of themed entertainment. I am so excited to honor and expand upon the over 19 years of their work (and its score making us cry). @jeffreyrevels has been a role model, mentor and terrific example of someone who has not thrown the ladder down behind them for many years now. He has always made time for me, and I’m forever grateful we’re working on this show together finally. Everyone asks, and no I don’t live in Orlando!!! Every time I come here, it’s because a theatre flew me in and put me up as a guest director. I don’t take it for granted. Orlando has been very good to me. I rolled up to the theatre today, and saw the kiddos getting off the bus to attend the school matinee of the current show, and it felt like coming home. More full circle - the FIRST thing I saw was a crate of our puppets, which we are renting from The Rose Theater in Omaha, where, almost nine years ago, I did my first theatre contract. There is a certain smell and energy baked into the walls of regional TYA houses… and I am thrilled to be here. #wheresmydad

CASTING: Puppeteers, Face Characters & Stage Managers for MACY’S EASTER CELEBRATION Someone very special is hopping into Macy’s Herald Square… It’s truly been a lifelong goal to bring a brand new character to life - in this epic of a way - ever since I started working with characters. To get to cast and show direct a new character initiative from day one with our absolute rockstar team at Macy’s, plus a very cool partner, are things dreams are made of. Please share with your puppet coded and related friends! Link in bio. It’s giving friendly, scruffy, gardener and improv. /appTFJ3q1JfZ6n4Kw/pagdjZzfSso4HFZY5/form