The Keepers are Here . . .
Keepers
of the
Flame
Executive Produced by
Ed Wheeler & Messeret Stroman Wheeler
Directed by
Shari L. Carpenter
Adapted from In the Parlour by
Judy Tate
Starring:
Messeret Stroman Wheeler
Noelle Ramsay
Celestine Rae
Montana Lampert Hoover
Creative Team
ED WHEELER
Executive Producer
Ed Wheeler was born in Brooklyn, NY and has been a character actor since 1973. Throughout the years he has worked in film, theatre and tv. He has appeared in Broadcast News, Head of State, Presumed Innocent, The Good Heart, Salt, Thinner, Godzilla, Mickey Blue Eyes and most recently a cameo in a Stephen King authorized documentary King On Screen.
His TV work includes Law & Order episodes, Blue Bloods and Third Watch. His theatre beginnings led with Henry Street Settlement’s A Recent Killing, 6 plays for The Negro Ensemble Company to follow throughout the years, The Public Theatre’s East Texas Hot Links, Hartford Stage ‘s Death Of Papa, Signature Theatre’s Zooman and The Sign and Two Trains Running and Arena Stage’s Cuttin’Up.
In 2017 Ed was honored by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC with the Living Legend Award for his contributions to the American theatre and to the entertainment industry. He was one of the early pioneers in the commercial ad world during the real life Mad Men years. Mr. Wheeler is very proud to co-produce this historical, informative drama
Keepers of the Flame with his wonderful wife, Messeret.
MESSERET STROMAN WHEELER
Executive Producer
Messeret has served as Associate Producer , Social Manager and sometimes actor of The ASP ARTS COLLECTIVE .
ASP is empowering communities through honest, empathetic storytelling with educational and historical plays.
She joined ASP in 2016 helping to elevate their social and social media presence, secure performance space, obtain NYC Times Square/42nd Street Billboard Ads, and score a sponsorship for
ASP’s participation in March On Washington’s Film Festival in D.C.
Messeret is thrilled to co-produce Keepers of the Flame with her loving husband, Ed Wheeler.
SHARI LYNETTE CARPENTER
Director / Producer
Award winning writer/director Shari Lynette Carpenter says she came out of the womb with a pencil in hand, a born storyteller and her film career all began with a fan letter written to Spike Lee. During her decade and a half tenure as script supervisor to Spike, and many other notable directors, Carpenter was building her own writing and directing portfolio, making a series of shorts and indie features. In 2021 Ava DuVernay invited Carpenter to direct her first episode of television on the critically acclaimed series, Queen Sugar. Carpenter has also recently directed three made for television movies, Three’s Complicated, Single Black Female and Mary J. Blige’s Strength of a Woman. Her television pilot script, TRANSLATE was selected for The Writer's Lab. Carpenter is a member of the Paramount Directors Initiative, the DGA Women’s Steering Committee Squad and is a Stowe Story Lab Board member and alumna.
TIA DIONNE HODGE
Producer/ Line Producer
Tia Dionne Hodge most recently appeared as supporting lead Linda in Quinn Shephard’s Not Okay, as Wendy Coleman in Shaquille O’Neal’s Exe. Produced redemption drama Steps, and guest starred in FBI:Most Wanted. She will next appear in Ghost Power Book II’s fourth season and guest star in The Blacklist’s final season. Tia Dionne recently directed Jaqueline Kennedy’s Walk by the Moon for Speranza Theatre’s touring company and Arlene Hutton’s Blood of the Lamb for the Centenary Stage Company’s Women Playwrights Series. She co-wrote/directed/produced Big Bully which won Best Children’s Short Film Acting at the Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes. Tia Dionne worked as Head of Acting and Film at LUX Performing Arts(Jersey City) as a story instructor at the Montclair Film Festival and as Advanced Acting, Improv and Filmmaking Instructor while being Playwright-In-Residence at Performer Theatre Workshop for 18 years. She holds an M.A. and B.A. in English Literature from C.W.R.U. Her monologues and essays can be found in New Monologues for Women by Women, Vol. II, Black Comedy:9 Plays and in her 40 monologue collection for young actors, PLAY,SPEAK(2014, OddInt Media, publisher)
Judy Tate is a dramatist who has won four Emmys and a Writers Guild award for her work in television. She is a playwright and the producing artistic director of the ASP Arts Collective www.ASPArtsCollective.org which contextualizes enslavement and its aftermath within the framework of Colonialism through drama and visual arts. Her Plays, Fast Blood, Slashes of Light, Sex in the Kitchen, Mistaken for Genius, In the Parlour and others have all been produced/presented in theatres around the country and at the National Theatre in London. Theatre awards include: Manhattan Theatre Club’s playwriting fellowship; the New Professional Theatre Playwriting Award; and WAMCO collaboration award finalist. She’s a 30 year member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, Founding Artistic Director of the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stargate Theatre www.StargateTheatre.com , a project that pays justice-involved young people to create and perform original work for the stage. She has written about Stargate Theatre in Routledge’s “Applied Theatre with Youth” edited by Lisa S. Brennan, Chris Ceraso, and Evelyn Diaz Cruz. Judy has taught students around the world in schools, jails, South African Townships, and from American Indigenous communities. She has both a BFA and a Masters in Arts+Politics from in NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She also teaches playwriting at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and Theatre Arts at Drew University.
CAST
MESSERET STROMAN WHEELER
Mary Church Terrell
Messeret is a NY based actor who hails from Jacksonville, Fl. She can be seen on The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and The Sopranos alongside numerous commercials including Disney World, IKEA, John Hancock and more. An Audelco Award-winning actor (and three-time nominee), her theatre credits include Blue(DC’s Arena Stage & NYC’s Roundabout Theatre Company), Fast Blood(Civic Ensemble/ASP Arts Collective), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone(Delaware Theatre Company & Springfield Theatre)and Insurrection: Holding History(Columbia Univ.)Her work in the full length play Fast Blood, audio dramas Black Women and the Ballot and Second Sight can be enjoyed on ASP Arts Collective’s site www.aspartscollective.org. She is a cum laude theatre graduate of HBCU, Florida A & M University (FAMU) where she became a member of The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.(AKA).
NOELLE RAMSAY
Edna Brown
Noelle is originally from Florida and is now based in New York. She studied screen and stage acting at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in the Studio Program. She is a curious artist, always questioning the world around her, and wants to engage in stories that may lead her towards finding those answers.
Celestine Rae
Nellie Quander
Celestine is a Philadelphia born artist and storyteller. She is a graduate of The William Esper Studio where she studied under Terry Knickerbocker. Her performing career began as a modern dancer in her hometown of Philadelphia where her training in various forms of dance grew into a passion for acting. Most recent TV credits include The Blacklist (NBC), Boardwalk Empire (HBO), The Mysteries of Laura (NBC), Law & Order SVU (NBC), Eye Candy (MTV), Forever (ABC). She is also appears as the leading lady in the romance drama film, A Brother’s Honor on Passionflix. Most recent NYC theater credits include In the Parlour, (ASP Arts Collective), Manhood (National Black Theatre), The Minstrel Show (Classic Stage Company), Plenty of Time (The Billie Holiday Theatre), All American Girls (Actors Temple Theatre), and Diary of a Catholic School Dropout (Actors Temple Theatre) Regional: From the Author Of (Resident Ensemble Players, Delaware). She has also worked with Premier Stages, Abingdon Theatre Company, LaMaMa, NJ Rep, New Dramatists, NYMadness, American Slavery Project, and the Obie Award Winning 48 Hours in Harlem.
MONTANA LAMPERT HOOVER
Alice Paul
Montana’s Recent Projects Include: Short Films: LET ME ASSIST YOU (Now Streaming on Omeleto! dir. Noam Argov), KEEPERS OF THE FLAME (dir. Shari Carpenter), SHIPS IN THE NIGHT (dir. Ned Myerberg), VROOM VROOM (dir. Alec Deland), LIFEQUEST (dir. Richard Lounello). Plays: LEWISTON (by Samuel D. Hunter), PATHWAY TO THE BALLOT BOX (dir. PJ Griffiths), IN THE PARLOUR (ASP Arts Collective), THE F**KING WRIGHT BROTHERS (dir. Abigail Zeely Bess, NYC Fringe), HAND TO GOD, (dir. Rachel Lampert, Kitchen Theatre Co.), DOUBLE FALSEHOOD, (dir. Andrew Borthwick-Leslie, Irondale, Off-Bway). Puppeteered/voiced Teddy for QUEER KID STUFF, a Kid’s Youtube Show.
Recognition
Keepers of the Flame is awarded Runner Up for BEST SHORT FILM, and Messeret Stroman Wheeler is awarded BEST ACTRESS at the ORLANDO URBAN FILM FESTIVAL on September 2nd, 2023.
Picture property of Orlando Urban Film Festival
Picture property of Orlando Urban Film Festival
Keepers of the Flame is selected to screen at the DC BLACK FILM FESTIVAL ( AUGUST 18TH-AUGUST 19TH, 2023)
Keepers of the Flame is nominated for BEST DIRECTOR (Shari L. Carpenter) by the ORLANDO URBAN FILM FESTIVAL.
Keepers of the Flame is Officially Selected to screen at the BLACK BOTTOM FILM FESTIVAL by Citizens / August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh. (Oct 27-29th, 2023)
Keepers of the Flame is an Official Selection of the 2024 Cleveland International Film Festival FilmSlam Program.