Gamm Theatre Announces New Members for Milestone Season

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) will welcome three new fellows to its 2024-25 Gamm Fellowship Program. This fourth cohort of emerging artists of color includes Zelina Estrella Garcia, Allison “Sonny” Wong, and Ayrin Ramirez Peguero. Recent graduates of Rhode Island College, Community College of Rhode Island, and the University of Rhode Island, respectively, the fellows will be integral to The Gamm’s 40th anniversary season programming as they further their skills and professional goals.

The 10-month Gamm Fellowship Program is a partnership between The Gamm and Rhode Island’s public institutions of higher education. Fellows receive a stipend to participate in an immersive experience. During The Gamm’s 2024-25 season, Fellows engage in select areas of theater creation, administration, and education. Additionally, each is paired with an advanced career mentor who will provide guidance on earning a living in the theater industry. All nine Fellows alumni from the past three seasons are working, performing, or pursuing additional training in the field. Autumn Mist Jefferson, a 2022-23 Fellow, is The Gamm’s full-time Teaching Associate and Fellowship Coordinator.

“As an alumnus of this program, I am thrilled to welcome this talented group of artists to our community,” said Jefferson. “This new cohort represents a diverse range of voices and experiences, and I look forward to seeing how their creativity, passion, and commitment to the craft will shape the future of theatre.”

Gamm Artistic Director Tony Estrella added, “We are thrilled to have our newest group of Fellows be a part of our 40th anniversary productions and celebrations. Big anniversaries always bring us back to where we came from and where we are going. Fellows represent our future. As a URI graduate, I am proud to help ensure that theater remains a viable career choice for students of all backgrounds. This old-fashioned craft is best taught through the work itself. The day-to-day experience of this program helps our Fellows become year-round theater makers and prepares them for the realities of a life in show business.”

ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Zelina Estrella Garcia, originally from Providence, graduated from Rhode Island College (2023) with a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre and a concentration in Dance. Through RIC, she is a recipient of the Miranda Family Scholarship, an honor awarded to talented students from underrepresented populations who are pursuing careers in music, theatre, or dance. At RIC, she has performed in Head Over Heels (Pythia), Spring Awakening (Female Ensemble), and Cabaret (Victor/US The Emcee). She has also worked in the costume department. While at RIC, Zelina choreographed her own dance piece, To Be Transparent, which highlighted her experience as a trans Latina in modern society, the mistreatment of her community, and her past internal struggles. Theatre artist Alison Russo, a frequent Gamm actress (Viola in Twelfth Night, Dora in An Octoroon) is Zelina’s mentor.

Allison “Sonny” Wong of Barrington, RI, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, majoring in Theatre, from the Community College of Rhode Island (’24). At CCRI, their acting credits include 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 theatre credits at CCRI include Deathtrap (Assistant Stage Manager), Othello (Assistant Technical Manager), Yellowman (Stage Manager), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Assistant Director/Dramaturge). They have also performed and worked in technical roles throughout Rhode Island, including at the Contemporary Theatre Company, Burbage Theatre Company, Spectrum Theatre Ensemble, and Mixed Magic Theatre. Sonny’s mentor is Steve Kidd, a drama 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 BFA in Theatre with a concentration in Performance from the University of Rhode Island (2024). Born in La Romana, Dominican Republic, she grew up 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 II, actor (Ironbound, It’s a Wonderful Life at The Gamm), writer, director, and teacher, and a graduate of Brown/Trinity Rep’s MFA program.

ABOUT GAMM THEATRE

Founded in 1984, Gamm Theatre is a nonprofit theater that prides itself on telling stories that entertain, provoke, and thoughtfully address the most important issues of our time. Gamm also provides audiences with educational programming that enriches the cultural and civic life of our community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Tony Estrella and Executive Director Jason Cabral, Gamm is an award-winning, regionally recognized theater and a proud member of New England Area Theatre (NEAT), a bargaining unit of Actors’ Equity Association.

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