THE GAMM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The Gamm Theatre welcomes a third cohort of emerging artists of color to its Gamm Fellowship Program. Starting with the program’s 2021-22 pilot year, the three fellows are recent graduates of the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI), Rhode Island College (RIC), and the University of Rhode Island (URI). The 10-month program in partnership with Rhode Island’s public institutions of higher education is a paid fellowship designed to provide an immersive experience in all areas of theater making, and establish mentoring relationships between aspiring and established theater professionals.
Over the course of The Gamm’s 2023-24 season, fellows will engage in all areas of creative, administrative, and educational theater making. Each also has been paired with an advanced career mentor who will provide guidance about making a living in the theater industry. Read the press release.
2024-25 FELLOWS
ABOUT THE FELLOWS
Zelina Estrella Garcia, a Providence native, graduated from Rhode Island College (‘23) with a B.A. in musical theater and a minor in dance performance. Through RIC, she is a Miranda Family Scholarship Fellow, an honor awarded to talented students from underrepresented populations who are pursuing a career in music, theater or dance. At RIC, she performed in Head Over Heels (Pythia), Spring Awakening (Female Ensemble), and Cabaret (Victor/US The Emcee). She also worked in the costume department. While at RIC, Zelina choreographed her own dance piece called To Be Transparent. It highlighted her experience as a Trans-Latina in modern day society, the mistreatment that happens to her community, and her past internal struggle. Theater artist Alison Russo, a frequent Gamm actor (Viola in Twelfth Night, Dora in An Octoroon) is Zelina’s mentor.
Allison “Sonny” Wong of Barrington, R.I., received an A.A. in liberal arts, with a concentration in theater performance, from the Community College of Rhode Island (’24). At CCRI, their acting credits included Fool for Love (May), I and You (Caroline), Water by the Spoonful (Orangutan), Three Years from Thirty (Ashley), SHREW (Tranio), Clown Bar (Timmy), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Sandra). Their technical theater credits at CCRI include Deathtrap (assistant stage manager), Othello (technical assistant), Yellowman (stage manager), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (assistant director/dramaturg). They also performed and worked in technical roles around Rhode Island, including at Contemporary Theatre Company, Burbage Theatre Company, Spectrum Theatre Ensemble, and Mixed Magic Theatre. Sonny’s mentor is Steve Kidd, an acting and directing teacher at Moses Brown School, as well as a Gamm actor (Hangmen, Sweat) and director (The Effect, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Ayrin Ramirez Peguero holds a B.F.A. in theater with a concentration in acting from the University of Rhode Island (’24). Born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, she was raised in Providence. At URI, Ayrin appeared in Polaroid Stories; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark; Marie Antoinette; and Little Shop of Horrors. She has also performed at Burbage Theatre Company (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, BLKS), Mixed Magic Theatre (Then and Now), and Trinity Rep/RILA Teatro en El Verano (La Mancha). Ayrin’s mentor is Rodney Witherspoon III, an actor (Ironbound, It’s a Wonderful Life at The Gamm), writer, director, and teaching educator, and a graduate of Brown/Trinity Rep’s M.F.A. program.
