The PERFORMERS who bring TOBE FIT, THE JUGGLING NUTRITION MAGICIAN SHOW to life:
Felicia Masias
Felicia is excited to be returning as Tobe Fit, The Juggling Nutrition Magician, to help kids across the country live a better and healthier life! She is our first Tobe Fit to perform live and virtual shows for kids around the country! Felicia performed in several national tours with FOODPLAY in the role of “Janey Junkfood” and produced and performed in an audio/visual Video Story Book of our children’s book “Janey Junkfoods Fresh Adventure!” She has been performing theatre for over 15 years and is paving a path in the film industry. She is a “collector of skills” and loves using them in her work; from Juggling on the Lifetime Channel to eating fire on Youtube! Some recent projects include being the Host for the Crayola Youtube Channel and starting her own Video Production company. We are so excited to have Felicia back bringing her enchanting theater magic to kids across the country!
Keith Allen
Keith Allen is a graduate from the Pennsylvania State University School of Theater. He toured around the country for several seasons with FOODPLAY as “Coach” and “Johnny Junkfood”. Keith moved to NYC where he was a member of the Family Life Theater Ensemble, performing as a mentor and motivational speaker for inner city high school students. He joined the NED show, performing a one-man school assembly show as a yoyo-ing magician and motivational speaker. After touring around the world with NED, performing in five different countries, entertaining over 1,000,000 kids along the way, Keith moved to California where he managed to get on his favorite game show ‘The Price is Right’. He’s been featured on several TV commercials and now resides in Albuquerque, NM where he and Felicia, created their own film production company. We’re so happy to have Keith back bringing his special theater and broadcasting skills to help make our livestream program a success!
Linda Tardif
Linda Is excited to return as ToBe Fit, The Juggling Nutrition Magician, to bring fun-filled live theater to help turn kids on to healthy habits, after being featured in several national tours with FOODPLAY. Upon graduating with a B.A. in Theater from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Linda moved to New York City and performed at the Irondale with New Georges, at La Mama Etc. with the Talking Band, at Shadow Box Theater as a touring company member, and at the McKittrick Hotel with Sleep No More‘s “Inferno.” She was also in the international tour of Milosevic at the Hague at JaokimInterfest in Kragujevac, Serbia. In the Pioneer Valley, Linda is a well-loved performer with Paint Box Theatre, Silverthorne Theater, Serious Play!, Pauline Productions, Real Live Theatre, and Eggtooth Unstaged. When not on the stage herself, she is Managing Director of Shea Theater in Turners Falls, MA.
Kelsey Flynn
Kelsey is a beloved performer, stand-up comedian, improv artist, DJ, and now, mother of two, who is very involved with her children’s school’s PTO. She loves performing as ToBe Fit, The Juggling Nutrition Magician and frequently becomes ToBe Fit at home with her family when making meals and snacks! Since making the Pioneer Valley her home, Kelsey has become a favorite “celebrity”, performing with PaintBox Theater, and bringing humor, joy, and community celebration wherever she goes. Kelsey began her career in improv comedy when she was a founding member of Smith College’s improv troupe, the Smith Improv Komedy Organization (SIKO). Over these past 30 years, she has performed in clubs and festivals and studied across the Great Comedy Map of the United States including Chicago, New York, and Seattle. This prepared her for a stand-up comedy adventure that has included sets at Catch a Rising Star, Gotham Comedy Club, and Caroline’s in New York City, the Comedy Studio in Cambridge, and at the many Elks Lodges and Chinese restaurants in between. Her special trade of comedy has crossed many platforms including her role as morning-show radio host at 100.9, WRNX, and 93.9 WRSI, where she was awarded “Best Local DJ” two years in a row by the Valley Advocate.
Joseph Ahmed
Joseph Ahmed is a Philadelphia-based theater artist primarily focused on the creation of new work. He loves bringing his special skills of performance and circus arts to children in his role as ToBe Fit – The Juggling Nutrition Magician at schools, community centers, and conferences. He is a company member (director and actor) with the Barrymore Award-winning physical theater company Tribe of Fools, and has performed acrobatically up and down the East Coast with Almanac Dance Circus Theatre. With co-founders Arianna Gass and Daniel Park, he runs the interactive performance and game company Obvious Agency, www.obvious-agency.com. He works as part of the Artist Services team at Young Audiences of New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania. As a teaching artist, he collaborates with the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts and Enchantment Theatre Company, and holds a Teaching Artist Certification through the Teacher’s College of Columbia University and a BFA in Theater Arts from Boston University.
The FoodPlay Productions Team:
Barbara Storper, MS, RD
Founder, Executive Director, Creator, Speaker
Since performing her first FOODPLAY show in 1982 for 400 children in an inner city school in Brooklyn, NY, Barbara was hooked…on the power of live theater to engage, empower, and inspire children to make their choices healthy ones! Barbara loves combining her training in nutrition, journalism, and theater arts to create and produce programs and resources that help kids see through media messages in order to grow up healthy, happy, and fit. She is considered a national leader in the field of children’s nutrition, honored with more than 10 national awards plus an “Emmy Award for Best Children and Youth TV Special” and “Distinguished Alumni Award” from Columbia University Teachers College.
Barbara received her Masters of Science degree in Nutrition from Columbia University Teachers College, Registered Dietitian’s License through the Frances Stern Nutrition Center of Tufts Medical Center, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Michigan. Barbara has also enjoyed extensive training in theater, mime, juggling, storytelling, puppetry, clowning, and communications, and loves working with FoodPlay’s talented team of performers to help kids develop healthy habits to last a healthy lifetime…all in a spirit of fun and celebration!
Fionnuala (Nuala) O’Brien
Operations Manager
Nuala has worked for FoodPlay Productions since 2009 and is currently our Ace Operations Manager, taking care of everything from logistics to social media to financials! Originally from London, UK, Nuala moved to the US with her husband and two children, in 2007. A big move, but she loves living in Western Mass. She is a keen cyclist and photographer and feels very lucky to live in such a beautiful area. According to Nuala, “FoodPlay is a great company to work for and it has been wonderful to see how the shows have positively influenced so many children to adopt a healthier lifestyle.”
Our Production Team:
Props: Ezelle Floranina, Lee Thomson
Production: Barbara Friend
Sound: Peter Nabut, Terry Hanlon
Videography: Robert Yee, Ben Goldsmith, Logan Graham
Graphic Design: Keith Frazier, Davin Pasek
Web Design: Keith Frazier, Robert Innis, Bad Dog Design
Theater Board Advisors: Ed Goodstein, Mary Beth Home, Jackie Catalano, Therese Legere, Sarah Field, Rosemary Ware, Dan Storper, Maria Cahillane, Gerry Hersh, Felicia Masias, Paul Baswell, Keith Allen, Michael Karas
FoodPlay Productions is a Non-Profit Project of Fractured Atlas:
fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/foodplay-productions