THE PAJAMA MONOLOGUES PART 2: BECOMING Set for St. Michaels Recital Hall This Month

The Pajama Monologues will be premiering the second in a series at St. Michaels Recital Hall 225 West 99th Street NYC at 3:30 PM December 8th. The Pajama Monologues Part 2 – BECOMING are proud, dynamic voices of women who speak up and speak out about the evolution of who they are becoming.  This is done through monologues, dance, Spokenword/poetry, and music.

The show features monologues from plays like An American Daughter and the Lyons as well as original music, poetry and dance. The performers include Alice Braga, Teresita Cuadrado, Pamela Hamilton, Lynn Manuell, Zazel C. O'Garra, Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin, Linda Rios, Cathy Simpson and Annmarie Yali.

Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin is the creator and director of The Pajama Monologue series. Ms. Benjamin is an Audelco Award nominated director, actor, and Spokenword performance Artist who most recently directed Alan Stolzer's FINAL STRAW (DUAF festival ) and PAJAMA MONOLOGUES  PART ONE (The power of my voice).

Alice Braga aka Sublime Rhymes is a self-proclaimed word nerd whose thesaurus doubles as a weight-lifting apparatus. You can hear her poems and songlets at www.soundcloud.com/sublimerrhymes and her chants based on A Course in Miracles at www.soundcloud.com/ACIMchants

Teresita Cuadrado has received her BA from Queens College in Theater and Dance. She has performed as a dancer at Riverside Church and The Alvin Ailey Theater,  She also has acted in film and theater and sang in zarzuelas and plays at The Spanish Repertory, Puerto Rican Travelling Theater and Thalia Spanish Theater in Queens.  In LA she was a member of El Grupo Sinergia and performed plays at the Fridha Kahlo Theater in the companies repertoire. She now performs with Middle Players in the village and "Unity Players" on the upper west side!  

Pamela Hamilton Performed with Seven Miles High, War, Al Green, Leon Thomas, Grand Funk Railroad, and at the Whiskey-A-GoGo with Eric Burdon, Donovan and Strawberry Alarm Clock, as well as for Reverend Ben Vereen at his church in Culver and .Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Don't Tell Mama, Judy's and The Triad.  She has toured with Harlem Gospel Choir & inspirational vocal group Spiritus

Lynn Manuell Most recently appeared as Marsha in Debts from Beyond at Players Theatre and as Marmie in Little Women with First Flight Productions. She performed Lavinia from Androcles and the Lion in Pajama Monologues 1. She has appeared in over 50 shows in New York, London and Chicago.  She has appeared in numerous shows for Genoveva Productions, FACT Theatre and First Flight. Favorite roles include Tess in Vanishing Tess, Miss Lovely in Umbrella in the Snow, Martha in If the Pink Pump Fits, Celia in As You Like it and Mama in High Button Shoes at the Illinois Theater Center. Her cd RETURN TO LOVE is on original cast records. Her book Standing Tall- The Emails and Creative Writings of 9/11 is available on Amazon and was made into a play to raise money for the 9/11 Fund.

Zazel-Chavah O'Garra was born and raised in New York City to Caribbean parents, she is a multifaceted artist: a dancer, choreographer, model, educator, social worker, disability advocate, and Artistic Director of ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, a physically integrated dance company. Her work has been showcased in theaters, public spaces, and festivals such as ADA 30, WESTFEST Dance Festival, Judson Church, Dixon Place Theatre, Symphony Space, Cooper Hewitt Museum, the 4th International Festival of Disability, ABILITIES EXPO, Theatre for the New City, and Jamaica Performing Arts Center. Zazel has also participated in artist residencies, including Downtown Brooklyn Arts, Fertile Ground at Green Space, and ARTS4ALLFLORIDA. Her artistic contributions have been recognized with grants from the City Artist Corps, Dance Advancement Fund, Flushing Town Hall/NYSCA, and the Queens Arts Fund. Zazel is also the recipient of the Caribbean Impact Award, honoring individuals of Caribbean heritage who have made significant contributions in their fields. In 2024, she was awarded the Disability, Dance, and Artistry Fellowship for her innovative work in the arts. Before founding ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, Zazel built a successful career in the performing arts, with a body of work that spans concert stages, Off-Broadway productions, European tours, national commercials, and features in runway shows, catalogs, and on the cover of Essence Magazine. Zazel holds a BFA from the University of Michigan and an MSW from Fordham University. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Equity and is represented by CESD Talent Agency.

Linda Araceli Rios was the producer and host of the cable television talk show program Latin Close-up. Rios created the program in 1983 to motivate Latino. youth by interviewing accomplished Latino professionals to serve as role models.  With her guests, Rios discussed their experiences and careers, personal challenges, achievements and accomplishments.  She discussed a range of topics affecting the community including controversial ones like AIDS. As an actress she was featured as a dancer in Carlito's Way and played a social worker on Law and Order.

C L Simpson has appeared in several television productions - Blood Relatives (AMC+), Bull (CBS) Hunters (Amazon Prime), Seven Seconds (Netflix) and She's Gotta Have It (Netflix). She can also be seen in several films including, Grace (Sundance Film Festival premiere 2024) and As They Made Us, directed by Mayim Bialik and soon to be released Shelby Oaks. C L's favorite part of the actor's life is getting to work with amazing talent in multiple areas of filmmaking. It takes a village to create TV/film and she loves being a part of the village. Outside of acting C L is all about physical movement. Whether it is weight training, yoga, dance, or primal movement, she loves the play. Born in Chicago, IL, C L graduated from Macalester College in Minnesota and went on to earn her M.D. at Mayo Medical School. After completing her residency in Occupational Medicine at the University of Michigan, she was faculty at Wayne State University School of Medicine before leaving it all to pursue a life as an actor.

Annmarie Yali has been a member of Unity of New York since 2006; she has served on the Board of Trustees, as Treasurer, and on the finance committee; she is also a member of the Chaplain Team. Ann Marie has her PhD in Social and Health Psychology, is Associate Professor at The City College of New York, and specializes in research on the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (R/S); she teaches courses in social, health, positive, and R/S psychology, as well as on the psychology of loss and grief. Ann Marie is former chair of the board of Manhattan Theatre Works and creative partner with Different Translation. She also finds much joy in dance and aerial arts.

UNITY IF NEW YORK is a spiritual center that has always focused on including the arts in their services and events.  In the past Broadway stars such as Donna McKechnie, Alton Fitzgerald White, Rosena Hill Jackson and Stephen Schwartz have been a part of Unity's services.  Composer David Friedman even wrote a song about Unity entitled Unity.  Unity's mission is “To create a spiritual home where community may gather and know that all good comes from God within .”  Their vision is “A world consciously unified in love that leaves no one and invites everyone in.”  Rev. Britt Hall is minister with Associate Minister Shawn Moninger – both of whom came from theatrical careers to ministry.  This is the fourth production by the players of Unity of New Yotk. Other productions included Our Town, Matt Hoverman's, Santa's Shorts and Pajama Monologues 1 were the other productions.