Mission

Bruce France is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mondo Bizarro. After a great deal of continental travel throughout his youth, due to his father’s naval service, he settled down for a while at Louisiana State University where he earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Performance Studies. Bruce has a diverse production history working in both theater and film as a performer, writer, director, producer, camera operator and editor. In 2007 he created Bruce France Media to provide photo, video and podcasting services to arts organizations, non-profits, businesses and other members of the community.  Bruce married his long time love, Maeci Wang, in November 2008 and they have one son, Rhys Zhou, and one daughter, Quinn Zhen. 

Joanna Russo is a director, writer and acting teacher who serves as Co-Artistic Director for Mondo Bizarro. Within the company, Joanna served as co-writer of Cry You One, director and writer of Pchile Goyin (a letting go), facilitator and liaison for Race Peace, and director and co-writer of our newest show, The Way at Midnight (currently on tour).  Originally hailing from NYC, her NY directing credits include: Dialogue at the American Theater of Actors, Alice in Bed at the Juilliard School and Sideshow at the Susan Stein Shiva Theater. Joanna is the Co-Founder of performance ensemble NEW NOISE, and developed and directed four of their six original full-length multi-disciplinary shows – most recently Runnin’ Down the Mountain and Oxblood, both of which went on to tour nationally.  In New Orleans, Joanna has directed for the NOLA Project, the Elm Theatre and Lux et Umbra, where she was recognized for her richly physical all-female production of Sophocles’ Antigone in 2015. She facilitates a storytelling and music-based program for elders who have Alzheimer’s disease through the Alzheimer’s Care and Enrichment program. Joanna is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.  

Daniel Pruksarnukul is our Creative Producer & Director who currently teaches Acting in the Musical Theatre Department at NOCCA.  He worked at Arena Stage in Washington, DC for nine seasons where he served as the Artistic Associate & Casting Director and helped produce over 60 main-stage shows and dozens of new play readings & workshops.  He is a graduate of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program and was awarded the Thomas C. Fichandler Award for Theater Management Excellence. His work on Arena’s productions of “every tongue confess” and “Ruined” has been nominated for the Casting Society of America’s Artios Awards.  He has helped launch world premieres by playwrights such as Daniel Beaty, Marcus Gardley, Moises Kaufman, Charles Randolph-Wright, Tazewell Thompson and Karen Zacarias.

Nick Slie is a New Orleans-based performer, producer and cultural organizer that works with Mondo Bizarro to use art as a tool for understanding what makes us commonly human and individually unique. Nick’s creative endeavors range from interdisciplinary solo performances to large-scale community festivals, from innovative digital storytelling projects to site-responsive productions. Since 2002, his wide array of imaginative projects such as Flight (2007-2011), Loup Garou (2009-Present), Race Peace (2008-Present) and Cry You One (2013-Present), have been experienced in art centers, universities and outdoor locations in 38 states across the country and occasionally abroad.

For more than a decade, Nick has been passionately engaged in rebuilding his hometown of New Orleans, collaborating across sectors on a vast array of local performance and arts-based civic engagement projects.  From 2004-2008, he served on the Executive Committee of Alternate ROOTS and is the former board chair for the Network of Ensemble Theaters. He currently serves on the inaugural APAP Artists Committee.