Fresh Fruit's  Board of Directors (ALL OUT ARTS); Associates; Staff;

Nick Curto (President, All Out Arts) was graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston with a BA in Advertising/Graphic Design. After graduation he moved to New York City and has been a creative artist, designer, writer, and gay activist. He was Art Director in the Corporate Communications Department of a Fortune 500 company on Wall Street. Active in the LGBT community for many years, he has either founded or co-founded several not-for-profit organizations in New York City including All Out Arts (President), The Equality Project (Board Member), Disclosure Network New York (Co-Director), Broadway Night Out (Director), The Stonewall Business Association, and both the Wall Street and Mid-Town Lunch Clubs. He is active in an international spiritual group. He is also developing several theater properties including The Woman They Love to Hate: the Musical, and The 5th Revelation..
Jeffrey G. Leeds (Vice President, All Out Arts)  has been a member of the AOA Board since 2000. He studied acting at HB Studios with Michael Beckett; voice with Richard Hilty and Buddy Barnes; and Musical Comedy with Rita Gardner. After appearing in several New York City showcases, he produced two Off-Off-Broadway Equity Showcases and wrote a full-length musical comedy, The Woman They Love to Hate, with Nick Curto. A Baritone in the New York University Glee Club and, subsequently, the NYU Alumni Chorus, he also served as President of his alma mater's Alumni Association for two years. Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Science in Public Administration from New York University.
Rita Petite (Secretary, All Out Arts) is a trombonist and has performed in 48 states in the orchestra pit and most of the seven seas on cruise ships. She settled down in 2000 in New York City and plays trombone and developed an acting career all the way to Off-Broadway. "Being involved with the Fresh Fruit Festival," she declares, "is a great way to experience all the art forms in a way that I love best."
Lady Clover Honey (Treasurer, All Out Arts) is recognized as one of the most versatile Drag Queen personalities in New York area Gay Hotspots. She is known for her role as a fun and glamorous television correspondent on the international series Under the Pink Carpet. An MC and hostess, she adds panache and humor to notable events such as the Fresh Fruit Festival and Center Bingo. A girl-in-the-know, she shares what she knows through her column in the gossip/dish e-zine, DishMiss.com. She has carried the art of Female Impersonation beyond gay bars to expos, film, radio, broadcast television and prestigious mainstream venues.  She made history as the first Drag Queen to conduct an orchestra at the legendary landmark, Carnegie Hall. She keeps one high-heeled foot in the Political scene, providing a Transgender Viewpoint through political lobbying and her seat on the board of the Stonewall Democrats. Forever pushing boundaries, Lady Clover Honey's goal is to make Transgender and Alternative Gender Expression accepted as a way of life and appreciated as an art form.
Harry Wieder (Community Liaison) has been active in the Disabled Community and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community for over twenty years. His dedication to the fight for disability rights, LGBT rights and the battle against AIDS has won him honors from many community organizations. His unstoppable fight for disability rights earned him a featured profile in Jimmy Breslin's column. He is presently a member of NYC Community Board #3 in Lower Manhattan.
Keith Angora (Website Editor) founding member and administrator of New Village Productions. He has multitasked for the organization as performer: Fable, Finding the Wild Life Preserve, Judy's Place; as playwright: At Sunset, Randolph, Coupons, The Brief Rages of GeeGee Schwartz; and as director: Blame Me. His play, Jolly Roger, was a finalist in the All Out Arts OUT ON THE EDGE play competition, one-act category.
Jade Esteban Estrada  was christened “the first gay Latin star” by Out Magazine and has since appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Graham Norton Effect” and hosted the 19th Annual South Florida GLAAD Media Awards (Bravo TV). As a solo theatre artist he has toured his critically-acclaimed one-person shows throughout North America, including his solo musical comedy “ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol.1.” He lent his tenor voice to the Human Rights Campaign compilation CD “Being Out Rocks” in honor of National Coming Out Day. In 2006, Kentucky governor Ernie Fletcher paid tribute to Estrada by commissioning him the title of Kentucky Colonel, the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which acknowledges outstanding ambassadors of goodwill and fellowship around the world. Estrada joined other honorary colonels such as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Joan Crawford, Mae West, Johnny Depp, Muhammad Ali, and Pope John Paul II. He is on the advisory board for the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives for the Performance Arts Collection in Los Angeles and holds his Acting Master Class 2.0 in classrooms around the country. Find out more about him at www.getjaded.com.
Janice R. Pemberton, aka Cookie, a 41-year-old Caribbean-American social worker with children, doubles nightly as an arts junkie from Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is a committee member of the Lesbian Cinema Arts (LCA) film series at the LGBT Community Center. She has volunteered for several years at NewFest and Tribeca Film Festivals. She has been Volunteer of the Month for GO Magazine - A cultural roadmap for the city girl, by representing the free publication whenever necessary. She volunteered enthusiastically for the Fringe Festival in 2006 and 2007. Her current performance is Love Is Spoken Word. She attends national and international poetry events around the country. She produced a slam poetry showcase for the 2007 Fresh Fruit Festival and promises a full-scale poetry slam with cash prizes for 2009. She is a mean bowler, having bowled since she was seven. Best game: 238.
Suellen Rubin  has been with the Fresh Fruit Festival since its inception in 2003. She was a facilitator and active member of the Bisexual Woman's Group and the LGBT Center for many years. She has been involved in theater in one way or another most of her life and is proud to be part of a Festival that showcases LGBT artists.
Fresh Fruit's - Associate Board
Michael Serao is a first generation American of Italian descent, born and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He was graduated from NYU with a degree in Business Management and is a vice president, branch manager of JP Morgan Chase Bank.  In 2007, 2008, 2009, he was named Man of the Year by numerous community organizations for his community commitment and dedication.  He is the vice president of the Astoria Civic Association; president of Out Astoria; board member of LIC Kiwanis, Sharing And Caring; advisory board member of Immaculate Conception School; American Cancer Society; and the Powhatan Democratic Club. In 2008 he was awarded the Business Leadership Award for the State of New York as well as other citations and proclamations from the State Senate, Congress, City Council and State Assembly. Michael still lives in Bayside with his partner Jonathan who works for Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Marissa Maislen - Marissa Livanna Maislen received her BFA in Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, working with many innovative and provocative dancemakers while simultaneously exploring the dimensions of her own choreography. Since graduation, Maislen has become a member of several dance companies and organizations such as Fly-By-Night Dance Theatre (a low-flying trapeze company), Yoo and Dancers, Tina Croll and Company, and the Fresh Fruit Festival. Her newly-formed group, Livanna Co, has already performed in several New York-based festivals, including White Wave Festival and the 2009 Fresh Fruit Festival.
Maggie Zarillo-Gouldin
Walter Grabowski (Member Emeritus)
Fresh Fruits - Staff
Carol Polcovar (Artistic Director) is a playwright, poet, director and producer who has been working in NYC theater since the 1980’s. She founded New Village Productions in 1989 to expand the vision of theater to include greater diversity. Her plays have been produced here and in Europe; and her poetry has been widely published. She is also a member of Five Points Presents; a consortium of Off-Broadway companies and artists working to bring a more diverse idea of theater to 42nd Street.
Louis Lopardi (Executive Director) is also Artistic Director of the 30-year-old A Company Of Players. He has directed such staples as Equus, Wozzeck, Three-penny Opera, Die Fledermaus, Don Giovanni, considerable Shakespeare, Brecht, and Dutch, German, and Russian theatre & opera, both here and in Europe. At the Michael Chekhov Theatre he has directed Fassbinder’s Petra von Kant, Bad Evidence, Lysistrata, Cyrano de Bergerac, and his own plays Bolt: The Frankenstein Journals and Visiting Grishka.  Louis has received awards for Lighting, Sound Design, Original Music, Playwriting, Direction, and has been awarded by the Musicians' Union for "promoting live music for the dance."    Better known as a Director, Louis is a published poet and author whose other stage works include The Strange Case of Rudolph Hess, The Greatest Show On Earth, Aliens in Maspeth, a new translation and performing edition of Buchner’s Woyzeck, and the nationally acclaimed (and ongoing) Purgatory Project – in which the audience examines current mores by visiting great figures of the past in purgatories of their own creation.    Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers
Frank Calo (Assistant Artistic Director) is the Producer of Spotlight On Festivals, Inc. since 1999, and has produced numerous large-scale festivals in NYC as well as smaller events including variety and specialty shows throughout the tri-state area. He is also the co-founder of NY's Planet Connections Festivity and co-produced its first season in 2009. As a stage director, his work has appeared at the Theatre De Nesle in Paris and numerous other venues.
Ted A. Sterns (Webmaster) has been active with the Fresh Fruit Festival since 2006. In addition to being webmaster he acts as Company House Manager during the run of the annual festival. For over 25 years he has been involved in the music and theater industry. Ted is now working on his second novel. His first manuscript is under consideration for publication.
Fresh Fruits - Board of Advisors
Dirk McCall, a transplanted Southerner living in NYC for over 17 years, was raised in a military family, growing up on Army bases throughout the South. A longtime resident of Astoria, in Western Queens, Dirk was one of the Grand Marshals for the 2005 Queens Pride Parade. He serves on the board for the local Democratic club; is active with Astoria Kiwanis, and is the President of the Church Council at Trinity Lutheran Church.  His involvement in the local political scene, especially in LGBT politics, is ongoing and extensive.  Organizations that have received the benefit of his services include the Board of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC; the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens; the Powhatan Regular Democratic Club of Astoria; the Board of Advertisers for the League of Humane Voters; the Board of Government Affairs Professionals; the HRC Steering Committee; and the Steering Committee for the National Lesbian and Gay Chamber of Commerce, New York Chapter.  He is a founder of the LGBT Caucus of the New York State Young Democrats and co-founded Out Astoria and Drinking Liberally Steps Out, the monthly drinking/networking social.
Jack Schlegel had a 26-year career with Saatchi & Saatchi during which he created international print and television advertising for several industry giants. His firm, Jack Schlegel Communications Marketing, creates marketing materials for clients in diverse fields.  He helped found the New York Advertising and Communications Network, now known as Out Professionals, and until his retirement edited and wrote Newsbreaks, the group’s monthly guide.  He created and publicized fundraising events for Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund. He is a Founding Trustee of Signature Theater Company.  He has worked with Dancers Responding to AIDS on its signature event, the Fire Island Dance Festival, now a constituent of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Last year the event raised over $215,000.  He is the recipient of awards from the Pines Conservation Society, Lambda Legal, the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York, and SAGE USA, an organization dedicated to services and advocacy for LGBT seniors.
Tom Smith has spent his life working for nonprofit organizations.  A registered nurse for 30 years, he has spent the past 28 working for the Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn and runs its Long-Term Aids Program. A list of his affiliations and achievements fills many pages. He is a board member and former president of the Stonewall Democratic Club; former spokesperson for the Coalition for Lesbian & Gay Rights; co-founder of Family Diversity Coalition; founding member of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; former board member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Brooklyn; co-founder Outlooks, an LGBT radio program on WBAI; co-founder of All Out Arts; co-founder of the Stonewall Business Association; co-founder of The Wall Street Project; co-founder of Equality Project; former board and founding board member of Manhattan Mustangs; former board member of Truitte Educational Center; advisory board member of Family Matters. He is currently working on a New York State Panic Defense Bill, pending in the Assembly, and an LGBT anti age-discrimination bill.  He is president of the Brooklyn Community Pride Center. Assisted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, this group is dedicated to building an LGBT Community Center in Brooklyn.