A Note from the Playwright:

Looking back, one might say Los Angeles was great in 1950. It was an era of postwar prosperity marked by new industry, new freeways, and new suburban growth. But beneath that American Dream, there were systems quietly working to clear the way: redlining, displacement, surveillance, and political repression. Looking for Gold in Boyle Heights explores the lives of one community caught in that shift, as families navigate assimilation, loyalty, and the cost of silence. Loosely based on a family story, the play traces how identity and solidarity are tested across generations.

- Matt Steinberg

Matt Steinberg is a playwright and screenwriter, focusing on themes of technology, democracy, and identity. He began his career in comedy, performing stand-up at clubs across New York City, writing sketches at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and working in the writers’ room at Late Night with Seth Meyers. He later served as Director of Development for Steven Levenson’s Pyrrhic Victory Productions, working on award-winning projects including FX’s Fosse/Verdon, Netflix’s Tick, Tick…Boom!, Hulu’s Up Here, and Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway.

He has written numerous plays, including the award-winning Socially Unacceptable, which was developed at Primary Stages and produced at The Tank Theater and Caltech University. His work has also been developed through the NYU Gallatin Theater Group and The New Group’s Young Playwrights Workshop. His original television pilot, Our Very Important Podcast, was a finalist for the Sundance Episodic Lab.

Writing Socially Unacceptable, a play about Facebook content moderators, deepened his interest in technology and accountability. Then producing the play at Caltech and leading workshops with students on ethics and digital platforms crystalized that passion. After the 2023 WGA strike brought questions of AI and creative labor to the forefront, he felt a growing urgency to pursue a master’s degree in public policy.

He is currently a Tech and Public Policy Scholar at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, where he focuses on the intersection of AI, media, and democracy. His policy writing has appeared in Fortune Magazine and the Georgetown Public Policy Review.

He is a graduate of New York University.

Felicity Winter (Director)  (she/her) is a New York-based director, writer, and actor. Her play Unidentified Female was featured in the Chain Theatre's 2024 Summer One Act Festival. Past directing credits include Hope Is The Thing With Feathers, Constellations, American Idiot, Into the Woods, and Heroes of the Fourth Turning. As a performer, her credits include Spring Awakening (Adult Man, Adult Woman), Ideation (Hannah), and Plano (Genevieve). For more information on her work: @winterfelicity and http://felicity-winter.com

The Cast

Sara Rosenthal (Marion) is a Brooklyn based actor and educator. She is so excited to be working with Salted Lemon for the first time! Select credits include acting in The Laundry Play (The Chain Theater), you are seen (MurmurCo), and American Idiot (BKone). Check out her work on her website or follow her on instagram: sararosenthal.org and @saraa_rosenn.

Maxwell Marlowe (Sid) is thrilled to be a part of “Looking for Gold in Boyle Heights”. He is a graduate of the William Esper Studio and Rutgers University, and his recent credits include In Scena! Italian Theater Festival’s Mater Familias directed by Emma Denson, Ferrell Studios’ The Shape of Things directed by Uchenna Agbu, and a staged reading of his play Area 51 ½, co-written with Rachel Bland. He would like to thank the cast, crew, and his family for all the wonderful support.

Kayla Sofía (Carmen) is a New York City-born actor currently training at the Maggie Flanigan Studio. She holds a BFA in Acting from Ithaca College, where she appeared in Marisol and Ugly Lies the Bone (Jess). Credits include the NYC Fringe Festival (Lady Parts), Blue Bloods (2024), and independent film work. Kayla is drawn to projects that explore the unspoken stories that challenge, reveal, and move.

Elvin Ramirez (Luis) Actor, singer, guitarist, composer, and writer. He began discovering his various talents at a very early age. He has performed in many concerts and plays with The Washington Heights Choir School, “Arte y Tertulia en Casa de Maria Antonia” and Hudson River Opera, recently at Rybin Studio of Drama, and more! Represented by @rybintalent

Raphael Tennenbaum (Harry) is an actor and writer who has appeared off-Broadway and in television (Law & Order, Random Acts of Flyness, Master of None) and film (NY84, Ricki and the Flash) as "Ray Field." He has written for many publications including Newsday, the online 'zine Suck, the Hartford Courant, as well as Wired, The Forward, and many golf magazines. He lives in the woods of Bradford, RI, where he is writing a screenplay about his family's roots in Frankfurt.

Gloria Bangiola (Nina/ Producer) (she/her) is an actor, producer, singer, and teacher, and the co-founder and artistic director of Salted Lemon. Favorite roles on film: Glue Trap (Eliza); Oh (Merissa), and on stage: Buzzer (Suzy); Julius Caesar (Portia and The Soothsayer); Planned Obsolescence (Gwen); Make Her Happen (The Waitress). A graduate of Indiana University (BME) and Brooklyn College (MM), she is a founding member of The New York Philharmonic Chorus. Gloria has two albums of original folk music: Past the Willow and the Well and Fool’s Gold out on Spotify and iTunes.  She has written and performed multiple cabarets in New York City and teaches music to students of all ages. www.gloriabea.com @gloria.bangiola

Dan Purcell (FBI Agent) is an actor based out of Brooklyn, NY. He has recently worked on the pilots It Takes Ah Village and Dead Fred, as well as the independent feature Sacred Ground. His commercial work includes work with Google, Old Navy, Dollar Shave Club, Cigna, and more. He trains weekly at The Freeman Studio with Scott Freeman. In his downtime, he loves playing softball over at McCarren Park & finding sneaky ways to make home cooking healthier without his partner finding out. Don't tell her he said that.

Vincent Van der Velde (William Gladstone) (He/Him)is a Belgian actor, writer, and producer based in NYC. A 2020 Stella Adler Studio conservatory graduate, he holds a bachelor in finance from KULeuven (BEL), and co-founded Salted Lemon. His work originates from a personal trigger, focusing on social issues and what binds us as human beings. The beauty is in the flaw. NYC theatre: Buzzer; The Goat, or who is Sylvia?; By the way, meet Vera Stark; All my Sons; When we were young and unafraid; Julius Caesar; The Tempest; The Sun Tries Dating. Regional: Colorado New Play Festival company member. International: The Lark; An Oresteia (AcSenT) Film: The Chapel, 12 and More Omissions, Brief Encounters, FIX, Mother, Majdoline. TV: 20/20 (ABC).

In June 2025, Salted Lemon produced two exclusive staged readings of Looking for Gold in Boyle Heights. We brought together a fantastic creative team and cast to perform for 60 of Salted Lemon’s best supporters. We collected fantastic feedback from artists and audience alike, which will make our effort to bring Looking for Gold fully to life a success. We aim to bring this beautiful new work to the stage by 2027.

Langston Reese (Stage Directions/ Producer) is an actor originally from Philadelphia. He started acting in University of Pittsburgh while pursuing a Marketing and Business Administration degree. After graduating, Langston continued studying at the Philadelphia Acting Studio and then moved to New York to study at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute. He has worked on a variety of stage and on-camera projects with many fantastic casts and directors. Favorite credits include the dual roles of Ferdinand and Sebastian in The Tempest (Quintessence Theater Group), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountaintop (Santa Fe Playhouse), and Jackson in Buzzer (Salted Lemon). In his spare time, Langston enjoys cooking and making music with his friends.