About Us

OUR TEAM

Dylan Babb, Seniors Program Director/Writer in Residence

Born in Swannanoa, NC, Dylan fell in love with books and the written word when she landed her first job at Malaprop's Bookstore in Asheville. She continued her love affair with the written word at Emerson College, Boston, graduating in 2005 with a BA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing. While in Boston, she worked with Sociodad Latina as a summer writing instructor. After Boston, she started her publishing career as a designer for Soft Skull Press and colorist for the comic book Johnny Hiro, eventually working as an editor at Random House Books. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Fiction from Antioch University in Los Angeles.

Nicole Blastow, Technical Director

After a few years’ hiatus from theatre, Nicole is thrilled to be immersing herself in it again with New Umbrella. A graduate of Columbia College in Chicago, and also a writer and director, Nicole has worked at many theatres throughout New England and Chicago, light designing such shows as You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Into the Woods, Ida, Women Who Runs With Moose, Nissa, The Lorax, Aladdin, Fully Committed, and Suddenly Last Summer.

Elisabeth Gray, Artistic Director

A native Southerner, Elisabeth was raised in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia before arriving in Asheville at the age of sixteen. At eighteen, she hopped the pond to attend England's Oxford University, and has been on the road acting, writing, and producing ever since. Her first one-woman show, Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath, a multimedia tragicomedy about the hallucinations of Sylvia Plath while her head is in the oven, won the Fringe First Award for 'Innovative and Outstanding New Writing' at the Edinburgh Festival, and toured internationally for three years, eventually landing Off-Broadway in 2010. A committed educator, Elisabeth has led children's drama therapy workshops from the American West Coast to orphanages in Russia. She is eager to fulfill New Umbrella's mission of awakening creative potential in every human life.

Jacob Ireland, PRODUCER In Residence

Jacob Ireland is a North Carolina native, currently residing in Southern California. An actor for most of his life, Jacob first started working with New Umbrella over seven years ago. He continued his theatrical education at Bard College at Simon's Rock, expanding into Directing and Production work. At the age of 20 Jacob moved West to California. Now he is excited to be pursuing the next chapter of his life working as Producer for New Umbrella.

The New Umbrella Board