Artist and Staff

Mehr Mansuri Founder / Artistic Director

MEHR MANSURI—serves as a Panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts in Theater / Musical Theater. She has written, co-composed and directed over 15 musicals for CTC, including Henry Box Brown, King Kunka Bunka & the Rotten Royal Rascals, Wayward Knight, Providence: The Story of Roger Williams; and musical adaptations of the Ugly Duckling, Stone Soup and more. Mehr first formed The Children’s Theatre Company in 1989 in Los Angeles, and later in New York City while teaching 6th Grade English at the Horace Mann School.

THEATER: Having escaped her native Iran due to its' government's ongoing persecution of non-Islamic minorities (as a member of the Baha’i Faith) Mehr and her siblings were sent to school in Worcester, England, where she began her studies and subsequently her career as a classically trained actress. Performing in over 30 productions, her US credits include for the Utah (Park City) & Colorado Shakespeare Festivals’ productions of Henry V (Ms. Quickly), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tatania), Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice); Julius Caesar (Calpurnia); Coriolanus (Volumnia) and as Noah’s wife in the Medieval Festival's The Plaie Called Corpus Christie directed by internationally celebrated directors, Dr. Robert Cohen and Jerzy Growtowski.

She won critical acclaim for her performances in British hits: Red Devils and Road for which she garnered the Backstage/Dramalogue Best Acting and Critics Choice Awards and at New York City’s acclaimed, Vineyard Theater and Ma-Yi Theater Ensemble in their productions of Caucasian Chalk Circle, Three Penny Opera, M. Butterfly and Portrait of An Artist...

FILM / TV: Recurring roles on Television include CBS long running, Bold & the Beautiful and Guest Star on Chicago Hope, Desperate Rescue, Crazy Sitter with Lisa Kudrow.

AUDIO BOOKS / COACHING: Her audio-books have earned her critical acclaim from Publisher’s Weekly -including the most recent release of Saffron Kitchen for Penguin Audio-books. She has coached young actors for feature films including the lead in the feature film Precious; the Broadway show Fences with Denzel Washington; Bway Lion King (auditions) and numerous national and regional commercials.

PRODUCING / EDUCATION: Ms. Mansuri’s New York / producing credits began with the critically acclaimed NYC theater, New Group (with Scott Elliot) in Mike Leigh’s Goosepimples with Sam Rockwell; Hazelwood Jr. High with Chloe Sevigny and more. She holds B.A degrees in Acting and Drama from the University of California, Irvine.

Mehr and her husband live in the Chelsea district of New York and are proud parents of their three year old, Soraya, who delights their soul every day with her affection, disarming love, humor and pronounced singing 

ERIC DOZIER Resident Composer/ Music Director

Eric is National Director of Arts and Education for One Human Family Workshops, Inc., which addresses social, religious, racial, gender, and cultural discrimination. He also served as the musical director for the world famous Harlem Gospel Choir and the award winning Children’s Theatre Company of NYC as well as music for various syndicated television series. As a recording artist- Eric has teamed up singer/songwriter and producer JBEckl (Santana, WAR, Ozomatli) with whom he has toured across the US and Canada. Eric has a PHD from Duke University, in African American Music History.

KARIDA GRIFFITH Resident Choreographer

Karida is a principal dancer with Cirque Du Soleil on Broadway and a member of the legendary Radio City Rockettes, and most recently the critically
acclaimed MacArthur awarded, Dorrance Dance Company garnering a Bessie Award for “blasting open our notions of tap.” Karida has performed at the Kennedy Center, as well as on Broadway in an Ode to Frank Sinatra at the Radio City Music Hall. She has also performed in the critically acclaimed The Beat, which was featured at the Harare International Festival of Arts in Zimbabwe. 

KRISTINA GOLMOHAMMADI Education Director and Associate Director

Kristina is a Senior Teaching Artist Trainer for the Center for Arts Education in New York City. She also leads workshops for the 21st Century Learning program, the English language and literacy learning through the Arts program and Arts Engage Initiative which integrates theater with Social Studies Curriculum. She is also a Co-facilitator at the New York Department of Education. Kristina is also a member of the largest theatre company in Sweden, the National Touring Company of Sweden and the International Theatre Company of Bratislava. She combined her 30 years of acting directing experience with her acting and directing career, Pedagogy and Educational with a BA from the University of Stockholm where she specialized in theatre as instruments for ethical development. 

Jill Bolstridge Consulting Associate Director

Jill is currently the Middle School Drama Teacher and Director at Poly Prep Country Day School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. She holds a MA in Theatre from Long Island University, C.W. Post and a BA in Theatre & English Literature from Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. Jill has served as the co-Artistic Director of The Children’s Theatre Company in Manhattan since 2004, where she has directed more than 30 productions featuring children and youth ages 4-19. She has also written and/or co-adapted several CTC plays and musicals. Jill has launched and taught at the CTC chapters in Boston, Los Angeles, Peekskill, New York, and Valley Stream, Long Island. Prior to her work at CTC, Jill was an instructor and director at The Drama Training Institute in Newton, Massachusetts, and was head of the after- school drama program at the Reynold's Arts Magnet School in Bristol, Rhode Island. 

LORY LAZAURUS  Resident Composer

Lory has been a resident-composer for CTC for over 9 yrs, and is author of almost 350 songs. Lory writes about peace and unity, including his musical, Attack of the Elvis Impersonators, about the spirit of Elvis returning to Earth to unite mankind. Lory has written the CTC mini-musicals, including interpretations of Yertle the Turtle and The Lorax, and is the writer of the hit song “One World,”  which has been receiving radio airplay. He wrote 23 songs for Barney & Friends on PBS, and the theme songs for The Healthy Kids Show (Family Channel;) and Hot Properties (Life Time Network). He also was a staff writer for the Cartoon Network's Courage, the Cowardly Dog.