About Ariel

Ariel Estrada (he/him/his) is an actor, singer, producer, and Founder | Executive Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab, a creative studio for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander performing artists. He was a member of the 2024 cohort of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers’ Teacher Development Program and the 2023 cohort of Theatrical Intimacy Education’s Educator Advocate Program. He was a also member of the 2021-22 cohort of artEquity’s BIPOC Leadership Circle and holds designations as a 2019 Emerging Arts Leader by New York Foundation for the Arts, and a 2017 Rising Leader of Color by Theatre Communications Group. He also currently serves on the boards of the Episcopal Actors Guild, Musical Theatre Factory, and the advisory board of Houghton Hall Arts Community. He has served on multiple adjudication panels for government and foundation grants, including for the NEA, NYSCA, and the LMCC.

As an actor and singer, Ariel has performed on television, film, commercials, industrials, new media, and  Off, and Off-Off Broadway. You can visit his IMDB page here  and download his resume here. The New York Times hailed his "fine emotional shadings" in the critically acclaimed puppet show Made in China. He was also an original cast member of the FringeNYC 2014 Encore Award and Time Out NY Critic Pick production The Imbible. He has performed on film/tv in The Night Agent, Girls5Eva, Tell Me a Story, Blue Bloods, Bull, The Americans, and the award-winning short films Title VII and No Loss Here. His in-progress solo performance work FULL CONTACT was named a Finalist for the 2020 National New Play Network Commission Grant, and was selected for development in The Orchard Project’s 2021 Performance Lab. FULL CONTACT also received a developmental residency at Perseverance Theatre in July 2023 and is currently scheduled for its world premiere regional production in December 2024 at Perseverance, directed by Leslie Ishii.

As an arts administrator, Ariel is a current grant writer for Benvenuti Arts. He is the past National Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator for Actors’ Equity Association Office of Diversity & Inclusion under Strategist Bliss Griffin. At Equity, he was instrumental in the institution of its Open Access Program to membership; the adoption of hair texture as a protected characteristic; and where he led dozens of member education events for its Equal Employment Opportunity Committee. He is also the past Associate Director of the Theatre Program at Fordham University; the past Marketing & Membership Director for the Consortium of Asian American Theatres & Artists; and the past Communications & Development Associate for Mabou Mines. He began his career in arts administration as the Manager of Communications and Community Engagement and Interim Manager of Public Programs for the Asian American Arts Alliance.

As the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab, he has produced acting and writing salons, cabarets, fundraising events, staged readings, showcase productions, and short films, including a critically acclaimed 2011 production of TWELFTH NIGHT, starring Obie-award winning actor Jojo Gonzalez, and directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III (Assistant Director, The Public/NYSF 2011; Lincoln Center Directors Lab), with music by Jason Ma (GOLD MOUNTAIN; Broadway: MISS SAIGON, THE SLY FOX, SHOGUN THE MUSICAL). In 2012, Ariel served as Executive Producer for Leviathan Lab’s multiple-award winning short film TWO WEEKS, directed by Rodney To (Featured Film, 2013 Screen Actors Guild Shorts Showcase; Winner, 2013 Film Festival Flix Short Film Competition; Winner, Best Ensemble, 2013 Asians on Film Festival; Award of Merit: Asian American, Best Shorts Competition  (December 2013); and Official Selection, 20th Annual Filipino American Cine Festival, (December 2013). In 2018, Ariel served as Executive Producer for Leviathan Lab's 2018 workshop of TRIGGER by Sam Chanse  (2017 Kilroys; Resident Playwright, New Dramatists; Member, Ma-Yi Writers Lab). In 2021, Leviathan partnered with Episcopal Actors Guild to present their Barbour Award Readings, which presented online readings of new plays by Garrett Kim, Gaven Trinidad, and Cherry Lou Sy. Leviathan also partnered with Ars Nova to present May Treuhaft-Ali and Nicholas Polonio’s new play POV: U RUN JOE BIDEN’S TIKTOK as part of the 2021 ANTFest. In February 2023, Leviathan again partnered with the Episcopal Actors' Guild as one of its Space Grant recipients, where Ariel served as Executive Producer of Gaven Trinidad’s LEARNING HOW TO READ BY MOONLIGHT. Leviathan was also designated as a 2023 recipient of NYSCA’s Artist Support Grant for its work with rising Filipino American director Nicholas Polonio and his UNCANNY VALLEY PROJECT, to develop work that incorporates machine learning, virtual technology, and the values and aesthetics of the Post-Post-Modern movement.

Ariel is a graduate of the Broadway League's Commercial Theatre Institute Fourteen Week Program: Advanced Topics for Commercial Producers and Managers  under Tom Viertel.

As a freelance grant writer and as a staff writer for Benvenuti Arts, Ariel has secured grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2012-2016; 2018-2021), the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (2019-2022), and the Alliance of Resident Theatres-New York (Creative Opportunity Fund, Creative Space Grant, and COVID Relief Fund, 2018-2021) for his work with Leviathan Lab He has also won foundation and government funding, including multi-year funding from New York State Council for the Arts, for National Asian Artists Project (2019-23), Phoenix Theatre Ensemble (2013-2020); choral ensembles Voices of Gotham  (2013-2016), Empire City Men’s Chorus  (2013-2017), and Choral Chameleon (2014-2021), and the professional ballet company BalletCollective (2018).

Through Ariel's development and community engagement work,  Leviathan was also a 2011 resident artist at Space on White, and was a 2013 and 2014 resident artist at the Performance Project at University Settlement. He has also secured residencies at SPACE on Ryder Farm (2019), The Orchard Project (2021), Bric Arts Media (2022), and Perseverance Theatre (2023). You can download his CV here.

Ariel is also an accomplished Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000 level communications designer. A design portfolio can be provided upon request.