Broadway's Bryce Pinkham & Lucas Rooney Return from Zara Aina Trip to Madagascar

Broadway actors Lucas Caleb Rooney, fresh off of a run in Classic Stage Company's production of Doctor Faustus, and Bryce Pinkham, after a run of The Heidi Chronicles and before returning to his Tony-nominated role in the Tony award-winning musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, have recently returned from Madagascar, where they worked to secure a permanent home for their non-profit organization, Zara Aina. Also joining them in Madagascar was puppeteer, Annie Worden.

Pinkham and Rooney co-founded Zara Aina in order to help empower at-risk kids in Madagascar through theatrical story-telling techniques and performance and to provide them with much needed medical and educational assistance.

"We've identified the key years that these kids are at risk of forsaking their education and consequently their futures, and developed a unique, fun, and effective way to shepherd them through the danger zone," says Rooney.

The duo launched the program back in 2012 and the next year took 12 American artists to the country to help build a traveling theater show with a group of 14 at-risk Malagasy kids. The show was based on a well-known Malagasy folk tale and incorporated some of the same "clowning" techniques that Rooney and Pinkham teach at NYU and other American universities. The original number of Malagasy kids participating in the program has now expanded to 45.

"Since our inception we have kept 45 children in school during the crucial years when 50% usually drop out. We consider this, along with providing theatrical performance and a storytelling curriculum to these children to be a huge achievement and hope to continue introducing it to many of their contemporaries," says Pinkham.

Rooney, Pinkham and Worden also went to Madagascar to recruit and train more local Malagasy artists to run the theater program year round and help to institute a three-year curriculum to be used in teaching a new group of kids.

"This blend of storytelling, theatre and plain old silly fun has brought this global community together to attack the very serious problems facing these children," says Rooney.

Zara Aina, which means "share life" in Malagasy, also recently entered into a partnership with Unicef to expand Zara Aina's presence in Madagascar.

About Zara Aina:

Zara Aina is a 501c3 non-profit organization, based in NYC, and devoted to helping at-risk children expand their capacity for achievement through theatrical performance and storytelling. It works with partners to develop sustainable programs that empower and change lives.

Lucas Caleb Rooney, Zara Aina Artistic Director, is an actor and teacher from New York City. He teaches clowning at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, The Juilliard Schools and other programs. As an actor, Lucas has been on Broadway in Bartlett Sher's GOLDEN BOY opposite Tony Shaloub, Mike Nicols' production of THE COUNTRY GIRL with Frances McDormand and Morgan Freeman, and Jack O'Brien's Tony winning revival of HENRY IV. Last year, he appeared in the world premiere of Caryl Churchill's LOVE AND INFORMATION and as Barnadine in MEASURE FOR MEASURE with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park and starred opposite Jeffery Demunn in DEATH OF A SALESMAN at The Old Globe Theatre. Lucas won a Drama Desk Award for his work in Michael Wilson's production of Horton Foote's ORPHANS HOME CYCLE. His clown show CREATION had a critically acclaimed run Off-Broadway. He most recently played Robin in Classic Stage Company's production of DOCTOR FAUTUS with Chris Noth. In addition to his many theatre credits, Lucas has appeared in numerous television and film roles, including BOARDWALK EMPIRE, THE KNICK, THE FOLLOWING, GOOD WIFE, and of course the obligatory LAW AND ORDER. He recently finished shooting a role in THE DROP with Tom Hardy and the late, great James Gandofini. He can also be seen in Rob Reiner's MAGIC OF BELLE ISLE with Morgan Freeman and starred opposite Amy Pohler and Will Arnett in ON BROADWAY.

Bryce Pinkham, Zara Aina Executive Director, is an American stage and television actor. He most recently starred with Elisabeth Moss and Jason Biggs in the Broadway revival of The Heidi Chronicles as Peter Patrone, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as well as the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in 2015. In 2014 he was seen as Monty Navarro, the title role, in the Broadwayproduction of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical as well as a Grammy Award. He also appeared in Ghost the Musical as Carl Bruner and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson'sBlack Fox (his Broadway debut) as well as Shakespeare in the Park's Love's Labor's Lost. He also has a number of other Off Broadway and regional theater credits. His Television credits include appearances on The Good Wife, Person of Interest, and the PBS mini series "God in America." In 2012-13 Bryce was awarded the prestigious Annenberg Fellowship given to "a limited number of exceptionally talented young dancers, musicians, actors and visual artists as they complete their training and begin their professional life." Pinkham is a graduate of Yale Drama School and spent time as a part-time faculty member of NYU's Meisner Studio.

Pinkham met Rooney in the company of a nine-hour cycle of plays by Horton Foote called The Orphans' Home Cycle for which the entire ensemble earned a Lucille Lortel Award in 2010. Since that time, he and Lucas have shared duties teaching Clown and Physical Comedy at NYU's Meisner Studio and The Studio New York.