About – Bearded Ladies Cabaret Co.

THE BEARDED LADIES CABARET CO.

Cabaret! Gender! Cardboard!

Image c/o Christopher Ash

an experimental cabaret group devoted to exploiting all the possibilities of intimate, homemade theater through beautiful songs, tricked-out costume changes, drag, and virtuosic prop construction.

With wit and sparkle we tackle the politics of popular culture, sex, gender, and artistic invention. They have been called “wildly entertaining” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, “talented singers and comic actors” by the Huffington Post, and “a little over the top” by Aunt Patty and Uncle Marv, who happened to be in town for the weekend visiting the Johnsons.

CLICK TO READ OUR MISSION, INGREDIENTS, AND VALUES

THE BEARDED LADIES COMPANY & STAFF

COMPANY MEMBER

John Jarboe

FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Read John's bio

John Jarboe is the founder of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret company and its Artistic Director. A Philadelphia-based theatre artist, John graduated from the University of Michigan, with a BFA in Theatre.

In addition to directing, choreographing, producing and performing with the Beards, John finds time to collaborate outside the cabaret world as an actor, musician, teaching artist and consultant. She volunteers for Attic Youth, a local center that creates opportunities for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Philadelphia.

John appeared locally with The Walnut Street Theatre (A Christmas Carol, Love Story, Vincent In Brixton, Arsenic & Old Lace), Theatre Exile (Cock), People’s Light and Theatre (The Rainmaker), Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre (Hamlet, As You Like It) and The Wilma (Macbeth). Some favorite work includes turns as Julia Child in Inside Julia Child (Philly Fringe) and as the title role in The Green Fairy Cabaret (Philly School of Circus and Kimmel Center) which she wrote and performed in as part of the inaugural Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). She collaborated with Applied Mechanics Theatre Company in Portmanteau, Vainglorious, Overseers and Some Other Mettle, and was a recipient of the 2013 Performing Arts Fellowship from the Independence Foundation.

Wesley Flash

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Read Wesley's bio

Wesley Flash (he/him) is a transdisciplinary artist and cultural producer. His practice centers trans and queer liberation through site-specific performance and spiritual practice. He has exhibited, performed, and screened work at PAFA, the PMA, Vox Populi, PhillyCAM, and the Leslie Lohman Museum, among others. Notable works include: the podcast How’s Your Gender?; PRIDE PARADE! a walking tour of Philadelphia LGBTQ history; GAY MONEY, an archive and mixed media collages of Pride advertisements; and Whose Streets Our Streets, a web project about queer resistance in New York’s West Village. He also served as Spiritual Facilitator at BuoyRR, a retreat and residency for women, trans, and non-binary artists where he led meditation and movement workshops. In addition to his art, he brings a decade of small business management experience to his Beards role. Wesley holds an MA from the Gallatin School at New York University and a BA from Hampshire College.

Briana Nicholas

OPERATIONS MANAGER

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Briana Nicholas (she/her) is the Operations Manager at the Bearded Ladies Cabaret. Coming from a union background, Briana believes in the power of people and their ability to create collective change. Whether banding together to protect workers or provide spaces for people to tell their stories and share their art, she knows that we are stronger together. Briana holds a bachelor's degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Historic Preservation which informs her interest in the stories behind people and places.

COMPANY MEMBER

Sally Ollove

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG

Read Sally's bio

Sally Ollove is a freelance director and dramaturg who splits her time between Philadelphia and Seattle.

In addition to the Bearded Ladies, she is the resident dramaturg at Azuka Theatre. Formerly the Literary Manager at Arden Theatre Company, in Philadelphia, she has also worked worked with Theatre Exile, Gas & Electric Arts, and Philadelphia Theatre Company among others. Sally is a graduate of the ART/MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard and a member of the 2011 Director’s Lab at Lincoln Center.

Elena Faverio

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Read Elena's bio

Elena Faverio (they/them) is a performing artist, abolitionist, and recent Long Island transplant. They are interested in answering artistic questions with more questions, the intersections of politics, performance, and community, and how many theatrical pieces they can write without calling themself a writer. Previous performance work includes It’s All Relative (about funny sadness), South Dakota (a dystopian-nationalist radio play), Born on a Monday (EdFringe 2018), and or whose are you? (about memory and the mutable concept of home). They have also written three and a half musicals, most recently After the Flood, which received a tiny and beautiful world premiere reading at Westbury Arts. In addition, they have been making nonsense videos on their eponymous YouTube channel since 2020, with no intention of stopping. www.elenafaverio.com.

Taylor Jedlinski

PRODUCTION MANAGER

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Taylor Jedlinski (she/her) is an audio engineer, sound designer, and production manager in the Philadelphia area. Taylor obtained her BFA in Technical Theatre/Design as well as a BFA in Directing from Lindenwood University near St. Louis, Missouri and spent a couple years designing and working as an event manager in Minneapolis, MN before landing in Philadelphia in 2018.

Since then, she has collaborated with many theaters around the city including FringeArts, Lightning Rod Special, Theatre Horizon, Inis Nua, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Temple University, UArts, and, of course, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret.

Mieke D

BEARDMOBILE PRODUCER

Read Mieke's bio

Mieke D (they/them) is a mixed-race, invisibly disabled, genderqueer femme of Asian and European descent who loves gardening and bao buns. They bring over fifteen years of experience as an experimental and community-based deviser-performer, acrobat, director, administrator, facilitator, teaching artist, and cultural organizer. Mieke co-keeps Healing Circles in the Restorative Justice tradition with Planning Change, was a founding member of the Organizing Committee of Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists (PAPA), and has devised creative and healing justice workshops at UPenn, UArts, the Pig Iron School, Ping Chong & Company, Asian Boss Ladies Leadership Retreat, PowerTools for Progress, People’s Light, and PAPA.

As an artist, Mieke devises dance, theater, and performance art that is personal and political, “hilarious and disturbing.”

Recent Philadelphia-based collaborations include The Garden: Invisible Branches (creator-performer) with Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Half Magic (director) with Joseph Ahmed, Philly Education Stories (deviser-performer) with Anissa Weinraub and Teacher Action Group, and Philly Asian Histories: A Living Museum and Neighborhood Showcase (co-director) with PAPA and Asian Arts Initiative.

Harbour Edney

BEARDMOBILE VENUE MANAGER

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Harbour (they/he) is a freelance lighting designer, installation artist and production manager currently nested in the Philadelphia area. Harbour has a love for new and devised work that pushes the edges of how we present live entertainment. Most recent designs include Meet Murasaki Shikibu.. (Tiny Dynamite), Always the Hour (Philadelphia Dance Projects), The Wild Party (Eagle Theatre) and a hit dog will holler (Azuka Theatre Company). Past Bearded Ladies credits include Do you Want a Cookie? (2018, Assistant Lighting Designer), You Really are a Heel (2021, Lighting Designer) and Late Night Snacks (2022, Head Electrician). Harbour graduated from Point Park University in 2018 with a BFA in Lighting Technology & Design and is honored to be the Truck Daddy to the Beardmobile. www.hmedneydesign.com

Headshot photo by Jon Bradley

COMPANY MEMBER

Heath Allen

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Read Heath's bio

Heath Allen, the bearded bandleader, has been an active musician, composer, director and theater worker in Philadelphia since 1975.

He was a co-founder/music director for Big Small Theater in the 1970/80’s and has written or co-written over 30 plays and musicals. Musical highlights include performing with numerous jazz greats including Cecil Taylor and Philly Joe Jones; composing and performing the music for many choreographers including Karen Bamonte (Red/Blue…shift, Landscape of Love) and Melanie Stewart (The Gathering) and music directing Warren Muller’s Patsy’s Living Room.

Besides serving as music director and pianist for the Bearded Ladies, Heath continues to lead one of Philadelphia’s premiere party bands–the Heath Allen Band; serves as accordionist/arranger for the French music band Philly Musette, keyboardist/music director for the Ken Ulansey Ensembles, keyboardist/music director for the children’s music band The Cats Pajamas and conductor/music director for the annual musical at Germantown Friends School. Over the span of his career, Heath has released 7 well-reviewed CD’s of his original jazz.

More info and music can be found at www.heathallen.com.

COMPANY MEMBER

Rebecca Kanach

COSTUME DESIGNER

Read Rebecca's bio

Rebecca Kanach, architect of the Bearded Wardrobe, is currently pursuing her masters degree in costume design at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She splits her time between Philly and New York.

As a graduate of Philadelphia University in Fashion Design, she received the Good Lad Award for Excellence in Children’s Wear and went on to complete the costume apprenticeship at the Walnut Street Theatre.

Rebecca has worked with Bristol Riverside, Drexel University, Interact Theater Company, the Lantern Theater, Philadelphia Theater Workshop, Rutgers- Camden Campus, Temple University, the Walnut Street Theatre, the Wilma and various Philadelphia Mummers groups. She divides her time between freelance designing, stitching, and running wardrobe. Rebecca’s favorite beard is called the Hulihee.

"An always daringly incendiary brand of queer cabaret." –Philly Weekly

THE BEARDED LADIES CABARET CO.

Cabaret! Gender! Cardboard!

Image c/o Christopher Ash

an experimental cabaret group devoted to exploiting all the possibilities of intimate, homemade theater through beautiful songs, tricked-out costume changes, drag, and virtuosic prop construction.

THE BEARDED LADIES COMPANY & STAFF

John Jarboe

FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Wesley Flash

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Briana Nicholas

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Sally Ollove

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & DRAMATURG

Elena Faverio

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Taylor Jedlinski

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Mieke D

BEARDMOBILE PRODUCER

Harbour Edney

BEARDMOBILE VENUE MANAGER

Heath Allen

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Rebecca Kanach

COSTUME DESIGNER

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