Our History
American Records was founded in 2009.
We make plays about real people and real events. Some are documentary plays, some investigative, some fictional... all begin with an organizing question about real people and real events.
We believe in the radical act of listening.
Our organizational model is unique and allows us to be nimble, move quickly, and then work deeply. American Records is an SCorp (that works under a fiscal sponsorship on certain projects) and because American Records is an SCorp with a CEO - rather than a non-profit with a Board of Directors - we can work in many diverse spaces as one company.
KJ Sanchez, Founder & CEO
KJ started as an actor, became a director and for over two decades has written and directed documentary plays. Her book about making documentary and investigative theatre, The Radical Act of Listening, is published by Routledge Press. KJ also directs adaptations of classics and new plays by contemporary writers including Karen Zacarias, Octavio Solis and Alejandro Rodriguez. She is a former member of Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, a current Associate Artist with The Civilians, the voice of many characters on the cartoons Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go, a Fox Fellow, Douglass Wallop Fellow, MacDowell Fellow and recipient of the Rella Lossy Playwright Award. She runs the MFA Directing program at the University of Texas at Austin where she is a Professor and Foxworth Centennial Fellow.
Tommer Peterson (Métis)
Tommer is a playwright, independent theater artist, and designer. He is currently at work on a movement play, City of Refuge, staged by ReAct Theatre, Seattle. His play The Space Betwteen was selected for Cimientos play development workshop by IATA Theatre, New York, and presented as a reading in June 2022. His play Small Ordinary Gods was presented as a reading at Urban Sages in New York in August 2022. He is the author of the plays, What an Inpossible Idea, Small Ordinary Gods, No One On Board Took Notice, The Space Between, The Lightning Sash, and Just Wait a Yottasecond, and co-author with KJ Sanchez of the documentary plays Night at the Opera, and Duck Soup. Set design credits include Sovereignty (Harlequin Theatre), Changer and the Star People (Sound Theatre, Seattle), A Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare Company), The Other Place (Seattle Public Theater) The Birds (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Love Song (KTO Productions), 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan (The Ensemble), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (The Ensemble), and Highway 47 (American Records).
Denise Cardarelli
Denise is is a stage and international tour manager. Off-Broadway: Brooklyn Laundry, The Perplexed, Long Lost, The Cake, Dan Cody’s Yacht (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Red Bull/Fiasco Theaters), New Golden Age (Primary Stages), ReEntry (Urban Stages) and Dov and Ali (The Playwright’s Realm). Selected Regional: Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Two River Theater, The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Centerstage (Baltimore), Olney Theatre Center, Chautauqua Theater Company, and 17 seasons with The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
Ken Cerniglia
Ken is a veteran dramaturg, writer, and organizational leader whose dramaturgy is currently represented on Broadway in Hadestown and Aladdin. During 16 years as dramaturg and literary manager at Disney Theatrical, he developed over 70 titles for Broadway, touring, international, and licensed productions, including Peter and the Starcatcher, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday, Newsies, The Little Mermaid, High School Musical, and Tarzan. He adapted several Disney librettos for young performers and developed a new series of Marvel plays for teens. Regional dramaturgy includes the new bluegrass musical Eugene Onegin (TheatreSquared), The Tale of the Gifted Prince (Theatre Calgary), Romeo y Juliet (CalShakes), Blood Moon (PROTOTYPE Festival); Bridges (Berkeley Playhouse); and OLIVERio: A Twist on Dickens (Kennedy Center). His book for Antigone 1989: A Town Hall Musical will premiere at Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer. He is board co-chair of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and is a graduate of UC San Diego, Catholic University, and the University of Washington, where he earned a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism. www.kencerniglia.com
Jessi Blue Gormezano
Jessi Blue is an actor, writer and producer. She has toured domestically and internationally as an actor with American Records Theater Company and Blessed Unrest. Her commissioned play Remarkably Normal, a documentary play about contemporary experiences with abortion care, received a national tour in 2016. Jessi founded OUR BAR, a monthly night of site specific theater in midtown Manhattan, which has run over 15 years. During four seasons as Artistic Associate Off Broadway at The Pearl Theatre Company, she created Pick Your Poison, an audience driven staged reading series featuring classic plays and Understudies Onstage, an annual showcase for young directors and actors. At The Pearl she also served as Casting Director for four MainStage shows, fifteen understudy teams and served as the Director of The Pearl Conservatory. As Artistic Outreach Associate at Abingdon Theatre she curated and cast six Ghostlight Staged Readings. As a freelance Casting Director she has cast for Attic Theater Company, APAC, Gallery Players, the NYC & Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and Thrown Stone and more.
Alex Koch
Alex Koch designs video environments for concerts, musicals, plays, films, and immersive installations. His work appears on Broadway, Off-Broadway, across the US, in Central and South America, Europe, and Japan. His concert work includes three tours with Mariah Carey—the 2023 international Christmas arena tour, LA Pride, and Lovers & Friends—and two New Year’s Eve productions with Phish at Madison Square Garden. Recent stage work includes The Jonathan Larson Project at the Orpheum Theatre, Space Dogs at MCC Theater, and The Orchard at Baryshnikov Arts Center, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov. His projection design for Dua Lipa’s musical performances on Saturday Night Live aired in May 2024. His Broadway credits include Be More Chill and Irena’s Vow, and he designed Be More Chill for its West End transfer at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. He is nominated for multiple Drama Desk, Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Hewes, Jeff, and New York Innovative Theatre Awards. Alex was an Artistic Associate at the Young Vic in London (2020–2025), a member of IATSE local USA829, and founder of Ghost Corporeal.
Sheila Tapia
Sheila is an actor and producer. Off-Broadway: CQ/CX (Atlantic Theater Co.), La Ruta (Working Theater), ReEntry (Urban Stages), Elliot, A Soldiers Fugue (P73), Welcome To Arroyos (Lark/NYTW). Regional: Speed The Plow (Shakerbridge), ReEntry (Baltimore Center Stage), Private Lives, ReEntry (Two River), How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Round House), Havana is Waiting, A Christmas Carol, A Flea in Her Ear (Cincinnati Playhouse). Film: “Tick Tick Boom” directed by Lin Manuel Miranda, “Side Effects,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Kurt” alongside Mathew Lawrence. TV: “Dr. Death,” “Madame Secretary,” “New Amsterdam,” “Mrs. Fletcher,” “Blindspot,” “Royal Pains.” Education – BA, University of Florida; MFA, Ohio University. Member AEA, SAG-AFTRA.
