Biografia
Ariel is an actor, singer, producer, and the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab, a creative studio dedicated to Asian American performing artists. He was recognized as a 2019 Emerging Arts Leader by the New York Foundation for the Arts and named a 2018 Rising Leader of Color by Theatre Communications Group. Ariel previously served as Manager of Communications at The Tank NYC, a nonprofit arts presenting organization. Before that, he held the roles of Manager of Communications and Community Engagement and Interim Manager of Public Programs at the Asian American Arts Alliance. Currently, he is the Digital Marketing Manager for Children's Health Fund.
As an actor and singer, Ariel has appeared on television, film, commercials, industrials, new media, and in Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and Broadway productions. His IMDB page and resume are available online. The New York Times praised his "fine emotional shadings" in the acclaimed puppet show Made in China. He was also an original cast member of The Imbible, a FringeNYC 2014 Encore Award and Time Out NY Critic Pick production. His film and TV credits include Blue Bloods, Bull, The Americans, and the award-winning short film Title VII.
In his role as the former Executive Director of Leviathan Lab, Ariel has produced acting and writing salons, cabarets, fundraising events, staged readings, showcase productions, and short films. He was Executive Producer of Leviathan Lab's award-winning short film TWO WEEKS, which was featured at the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Shorts Showcase and won several awards including Best Ensemble at the 2013 Asians on Film Festival. He also executive produced the short films Yield (Official Selection, Planet Connections Film Festival, 2014) and Dispatched (New Ohio Film Festival, 2018). In 2018, Ariel executive produced Leviathan Lab's workshop production of Trigger by Sam Chanse, a 2017 Kilroys List play.
Ariel completed the Broadway League's Commercial Theatre Institute Fourteen Week Program: Advanced Topics for Commercial Producers and Managers under Tom Viertel.
As a grant writer, Ariel secured six grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council between 2012-2015 and 2018-2019 for Leviathan Lab projects. He performed in and executive produced Leviathan Lab's first LMCC-supported project, Migration Nation, a site-specific immersive theatre event inspired by the experiences of Filipina overseas contract workers. For the organization's second and fourth LMCC grants (2013 and 2015), Ariel served as Executive Producer, Assistant Teaching Artist, and Performer for the Chinatown Kids' Playmaking Project, Journey to the World of Playwriting, which developed plays by 5th-grade students at P.S. 124, performed by professional actors and directors. In 2014, Leviathan received its third consecutive LMCC award for the Ghost Stories project, featuring 10-minute original musicals inspired by Asian ghost stories, curated by Robert Lee and directed by Tony Award-winner B.D. Wong. Ariel also freelances as a grant writer for Choral Chameleon and Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, securing multiple consecutive NYC and NYS grants for both.
Through his arts advocacy and community engagement, Leviathan Lab was a resident at Barn Arts Collective in Maine from 2017 to 2019, a 2013 and 2014 resident artist at the Performance Project at University Settlement, and a 2011 resident artist at Space on White. Ariel has served on numerous foundational and NYC neighborhood grant and award panels and is a national presenter on equity, inclusion, and diversity in the arts.
In addition, Ariel is a skilled communications designer for Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000 companies. His design portfolio can be viewed at arielestradadesign.com.
