EMMA PALZERE-RAE
Actress, Writer, Producer

Ms. Palzere-Rae has over 20 years experience working in all areas of professional theater including performance, artistic administration, playwrighting and producing.

Ms. Palzere-Rae worked extensively in the New York City entertainment community for over fifteen years, most recently serving as the Artistic Director of Plays for Living, a 55 year-old not-for-profit theater company that uses drama as a tool for social change.  During her five-year plus tenure, Ms. Palzere-Rae oversaw the development of over a hundred programs, including commissioned plays for corporate training, arts-in-education residencies for at-risk students and ground-breaking awareness building and violence prevention programs for social service agencies.  This position allowed her many opportunities to utilize her playwrighting, acting, improvisation and facilitation skills while serving a broad base of audiences.

As a producer, Ms. Palzere-Rae is the founder of Be Well Productions which is committed to the healing power of the theater.  Since 1989, Be Well has toured several critically-acclaimed one-woman plays to schools, libraries, senior communities, civic organizations and professional theaters.  These historical portrayals bring to life characters as diverse as Emily Dickinson and Gilda Radner.  One highlight has been touring with The Heartland Chautauqua, bringing both Harriet Beecher Stowe and Emily Dickinson to rural areas of Missouri and Illinois in an old-fashioned Chautauqua style presentation. Her interest in historical characters dates back to college employment with The Boston Tea Party and Stowe-Day Foundation (Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe homesteads) as docent and more recently as a tour guide and scene player in Mystic Seaport’s Lantern Light Tours.

As an actress, Ms. Palzere-Rae has appeared Off-Broadway, at regional and stock theaters, and can be spotted in various films, commercials and soaps. Ms. Palzere-Rae is also a leader in the women's theater community as co-founder and Executive Producer of Cosmic Leopard Productions/The Womenkind Festival, the annual festival of one-woman shows celebrating Women's History Month, which enjoyed ten seasons in Lower Manhattan.

Ms. Palzere-Rae's work has been funded by the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, Zeta Phi Eta Foundation and the Emerging Artists Challenge Program/Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation.  She is a B.F.A (cum laude) graduate of Emerson College, Boston with a major in Theater and minors in Creative Writing and Speech Communications.  In addition, Ms. Palzere-Rae is a member of Actor's Equity, AFTRA, SAG and the Dramatists Guild, and is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment.

After fifteen years in New York City, Ms. Palzere-Rae returned to her home state of Connecticut in 2003 when she joined the staff of the Chorus of Westerly (RI).  Ms. Palzere-Rae resides in Groton with her husband, a furniture-maker, and her two boys, ages 7 and 9.

For a pdf of Emma Palzere-Rae's resume click here.