Exclusive Interview with Ava Patino – 14 October 2026
Love is in the air as St. Jean’s Players prepares to present a Sondheim Tribute Revue. Featuring 26 cast members, this performance is a fundraiser for St. Jean’s Players, the oldest continuing community theatre group on the Upper East Side. Founded in the 1970s, this special amateur theatre group lost its space in the pandemic, and is raising money to help keep the group going.
The performance in question is based on a recent book published by theatre history scholar and St. Jean’s Players board member Ava Patino, who has been doing shows with St. Jean’s Players since she was 12. “The St. Jean’s Players raised me, more than anything,” she says. “Its an honor to have been with them for so long and now they’re doing my work.” She is pleased to have found a collaborator in co-director Sharon Lowe. Ava states, “I wouldn’t do it without her. There’s no one I trust more in the world to reign in my rambles than her.”
For Ava, this production is deeply personal as it is the culmination of a year long project where she examined each of Sondheim’s musicals in chronological order. Originally released on Substack, My Year in Sondheim was a literal life saver for Ava. When Ava started the project, she had just been released from the psych ward after suicidal ideations consumed her. She embarked on this project because it “means I have to live another year”, and the research and writing required were part of her “healing process” and gave her “space to do that healing.” When she was inpatient, Ava would sing Sondheim to soothe herself, and realized that Sondheim is an important part of who she is. Now, after finishing the hat, Ava is standing strong, ready to start a job, start school, and find independent housing. She has gone from the depths of her despair to planning a career and a lifetime.
Having spent a year doing a deep dive into all things Sondheim, Ava couldn’t be more ready for St. Jean’s Players to showcase her work. The history of each moment in Sondheim’s life informs how performers are directed to interpret each song, making this performance perhaps one of the most dramaturgically accurate cabaret performances; often for cabaret shows, performers don’t get to sit and steep with the material the way Ava has done. “This cast is so talented,” says Ava. “Every time I watch people perform these songs I am so enthralled with their performances… I’m just going to sit and enjoy watching our cast sing these songs.” Ava expressed how moving it is to have everyone come together for this fundraiser, stating “We always get a couple of kids who are fresh out of AMDA but the people who sustain St. Jean’s Players are people who aren’t doing theatre but love theatre and that passion really comes through in all of that work.”
If you’d like to support St. Jean’s Players, please buy a ticket to the Sondheim Tribute Revue on November 12 at Green Room 42. Alternatively, you can donate on their website. Want to support Ava? Buy her book or subscribe to her Substack. St. Jean’s Players also has an upcoming production of Our Town in February. Please refer to their website for more information on that.
I am attending this performance on a press pass from St. Jean’s Players.
