Alumni Visit with the Class of 2021

Barrie Kreinik ’00 is an actor, singer, writer, and audiobook narrator. After Renbrook, she graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall. Then, she  earned a BA in Theatre and English at Cornell and an MFA in Acting at Brown/Trinity Rep. Ms. Kreinik’s performance credits in Off-Broadway and regional theatre include Goodspeed Musicals (Fiddler on the Roof—CT Critics’ Circle Award nominee), Irish Repertory Theatre (The Dead, 1904—world premiere), Fallen Angel Theatre (When I Was a Girl…), and the Union Square Theater (The 39 Steps). As a singer, she has appeared in concerts with the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and in cabarets at 54 Below, Birdland, and the Beechman Theatre. She is the author of two plays, a short film, and a webisode, as well as a creative nonfiction blog, Points of View, and her essays have been published by Theaterhound, Months to Years, and Medium.

Ms. Kreinik released her debut EP, Unlearning, in 2019, and has performed her original music at Birdland and The Bitter End. She is the award-winning narrator of nearly 100 audiobooks, including titles from the New York Times bestseller list. She also works as a freelance acting and dialect coach. She is an avid knitter and a devoted fan of the UConn women’s basketball team. Barrie currently lives in New York City.

Vasishth Srivastava ’06 serves as Chief of Staff for Hartford Mayor Luke A. Bronin and was recently named one Connecticut Magazine’s 40 Under 40. He oversees the mayor’s local, state, and federal legislative policy agenda and serves as the mayor’s spokesperson overseeing the city’s communications responsibilities.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, he has helped lead Hartford’s vaccination campaign in partnership with the city’s health department, as well as the recovery from a severe cyberattack on Hartford’s IT infrastructure in the Fall of 2020. 

 

Before joining Mayor Bronin’s office in 2017, Mr. Srivastava served in a variety of roles on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, including opposition research, paid media preparation, and debate preparation. Earlier in his career he worked on several successful campaigns for United States Senate, including Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, as well as Michigan Senator Gary Peters, primarily conducting policy and political research. Mr. Srivastava attended Renbrook from first through ninth grade. He graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and then Reed College in Portland, Oregon, with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2014. He currently lives in Hartford, Connecticut.