FRENCH CABARET CHANTEUSE

Floanne Ankah
Floanne Created the Show
Singer/Actress/Co-writer/Producer

Born and raised in a French farm, Floanne is a performer living in New York City. Her training in dance, voice, theater, film/TV and improvisation make her a unique triple threat performer able to portray a wide range of characters. Floanne has an international look and can embody various nationalities; she is fully bilingual and enjoys working with accents. She has recorded numerous commercial voice-overs for international usage. Degrees include the certificate in modern dance from the Merce Cunningham Studio, and in long-form improvisation from the Upright Citizens’ Brigade Theater.
Floanne’s vocal repertoire includes French classics, opera arias and her own songs. She performed at the Metropolitan Room, The Triad and on NPR. She has been performing monthly residencies at Flûte Cabaret and Brasserie Julien where she invites fellow performer to present their work and performs with a rotating band. She learned her craft as a chanteuse including with Daniel Isengart, and many top New York jazz musicians. She trains as a coloratura soprano with April Evans, Audrey Saint-Gil and formerly Patricia Scimeca.
Floanne Ankah acts in film, stage and television. She has performed at venues such as the Public Theatre and the Guggenheim Museum, as well as reading alongside Israel Horowitz, and has been part of numerous experimental theater works (Meredith Monk, Young Jean Lee, John Duncan). She was a recurring day player on One Life to Live (Colette, the French maid). Floanne was the star of the 2008 webisode Life with Flow. She performed on major feature films, acting opposite Helen Hunt, and with directors Jim Jarmusch and Jonathan Demme.
Ms. Ankah is the founder of SiMPLE production, a non-profit organization committed to the development of new work that integrates the talent of innovative and “sparkling” artists from various cultures. She trained in dance daily since the age of 7, choreographed for various venues and received scholarships and residencies for her work. Her experimental films ONE WAY and Waterfront Access? have been awarded at festivals, other short films have been shown at BAM, DGA, and internationally. She has been working extensively as a voice-over artist and directs voice-over commercial recordings. Floanne is currently directing two documentaries about the French countryside she is from.

Alice Jankell
Director/Co-writer

Director, Actor, Writer, Alice Jankell is originally from New York City and has lived on both coasts. For Disney, Alice helped to create and develop new Broadway musicals. As Associate Artistic Director of The Williamstown Theater Festival, her directing work included AS YOU LIKE IT, the World Premiere of DINAH WAS based on Dinah Washington, and ENOUGH ROPE, the special event on Dorothy Parker starring Elaine Stritch. She has worked and learned in venues as varied as the Mark Taper Forum, the Hollywood Bowl, Joseph Papp’s Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, La Mama, City Theater, and was a guest instructor at Carnegie Mellon. She co-developed a commercial theater celebration of the work of Macarthur Award winning choreographer Elizabeth Streb, with music by David Johansen, and she is currently launching a new Off-Broadway musical. Alice is the Creative Director of FAB Women (For, About, and By Women) under The Barrow Group’s off-Broadway umbrella. She graduated from Wesleyan University, and got her Masters at NY.
Contact: ajankell@msn.com

Audrey Saint-Gil
Musical Director

Biography Coming Soon

Kate Dunphy
Accordion

Biography Coming Soon

Marcel Van Dam
Guitar

Marcel Van Dam grew up in the Netherlands where he started classical guitar at the age of 10 and was on stage as a singer at this young age. Once he arrived in France about a decade ago, he fell in love with the french chanson, and decided to concentrate on songwriting in french. His «James Taylorish» songs are mainly acoustic with delicate fingerstyle guitar and a wonderful warm voice, and they were rewarded several times in France and abroad.
www.myspace.com/marcelvandam

Mario Monaco
Percussion

Mario plays drums/percussion and does not have a bio.

Anne Laure Coadic
Graphic Design/Production Assitant

Anne Laure is originaly from Britanny and is a Fine Art student in Pau (France). She is a candidate for the French graphic design diploma DNSEP, and she is curenlty working as an intern Floanne Ankah. She loves her experience in New York and would like to come back and live here when she graduates.

Beck Lee
Press Representative

In 1996 Beck Lee a New York based writer, producer and marketing executive founded Media Blitz, a public relations and marketing company with experience in film, theatre and music. The agency’s current client roster includes the government of Germany (for its promotion of German cinema in the United States); Broad Cove Partners; The National Yiddish Theatre – Folksbiene; The Metropolitan Room; the singer Barb Jungr; The Barrow Street Theatre and Origin Theatre Co. A segment on NPR’s On the Media, which focused on the success of several promotions devised by Media Blitz for «The Countess,» described Beck as «something of a marketing genius.»
www.mediablitz.com

Scarlett Keene
Program Artwork/Production Assitant

Scarlett Keene is a young British Actor and Artist. Shortly after receiving the Shakespeare Diploma at London’s Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she came to New York to pursue an Acting Career and gain more experience as a performer. As a recent graduate from NYCDA, she continues to train and hone her craft in New York City with industry professionals. Scarlett brings naive seduction and restricted strength to her work, both on Stage and on Canvas. Her Art Focuses on femininity and the darkness of temptation. She is currently Based in New York and finds herself immersed in the cities’ pace, stating; «it is a place where fantasy and reality form a duet, its an adventure everyday».

Virgine Millefiori
Jewlery Design

Virginie Millefiori is a French designer based in NYC; she creates jewelry for astute yet whimsical women with an eye for detail and a taste for the unexpected. Her collections are vibrant and playful, mingling poetry and wordplay with delicate designs. To realize her creative flow, she mastered techniques such as leather craftmanship, metal-smithing and enameling. Initial success in Paris swept through Europe, and her jewelry evolved from one-of-a-kind pieces to fine limited editions currently displayed in high-end designer boutiques. She relocated her studio in the Upper East Side, where it has quickly established manufacture of her designs, now entirely made in the USA. Discover her unique creations and let you seduced by her fantasy! www.virginiemillefiori.com

The Village Scandal
Custom-Made Hat

Floanne is wearing a custom-made Scandal Cloche in midnight blue from The Village Scandal. The Scandal Cloche was created by Wendy of The Village Scandal and is inspired by the Flapper Girls of the 1920s. Each Scandal Cloche is handmade and hand-sewn, taking two full days to make. The Village Scandal artisans don’t start with a pattern. Instead, they let their creative inspiration direct them to a design and embellish each cloche individually. It’s an amazing and unique creative process and makes each Scandal Cloche a one of a kind creation. The Village Scandal has a huge selection of unique and distinctive hats & accessories for men, women and children and is located at 19 East 7th Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues and they are open until midnight or later: 212-460-9358.

Rachel Kaufman
Musical Director

Rachel Kaufman (Music Director) is a multi-instrumentalist who has music directed and/or played for well over 250 musicals and cabaret shows world-wide, with cabaret shows at such venues as The Metropolitan Room, The Triad, Don’t Tell Mama, The Duplex, Rose’s Turn, the Laurie Beechman, Helen’s Hideaway, Montparnasse - The Piano Bar (Mykonos), and Davenport’s (Chicago). Theater credits include: Off-B’way: The Fartiste, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, CYCLE (Composer), The Ambition Bird (w/Victoria Clark), and Golf: The Musical; Tours: Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Five Guys Named Moe, and Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Regional: Tom Jones (North Shore) and Hallelujah, Baby! (Arthur Laurents, dir.). Rachel can also be seen playing for auditions, classes, improv comedy groups, at restaurants, piano bars, and on cruise ships. She holds a B.A. in Music (and Russian) from the University of Chicago.
Contact: radinishmini@yahoo.com

Ray Parker
Upright Bass

Ray Parker, originally from Toledo, Ohio, now resides in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Gene Parker, is a sought after multi-instrumentalist and educator in the Toledo/Detroit/Cleveland area, and Ray was gigging regularly by his senior year in high school. He has lived and played in Toledo, Cleveland, Boston, New York City, and served as Artist-in-Residence at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa for two years with the Unified Jazz Ensemble. Among some of the luminaries with whom he has played are Dizzy Gillespie, Diego Urcola, Eric Lewis, Bobby McFerrin, Jimmy Cobb, Nick Brignola, Tom Harrell, Makoto Ozone, Ira Sullivan, Danilo Perez, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Maynard Ferguson, the Three Irish Tenors, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Contact: www.rayparkerbassplayer.com